ORA LEE WOODARD HOWZE was born on October 24, 1963, to the union of Frank Woodard and Sadie Bell Green Woodard of Yazoo City, Mississippi. Shortly after her birth, the Woodards moved to the Windy City, Chicago, Illinois. Ora Lee attended Crown Elementary School and later attended Farragut High School. It was there where she expressed her love for dancing and became a cheerleader. It was on the court where she spotted the love of her life, George Howze III. The two were simply inseparable from the start. These “Proud Admirals” graduated from Farragut and later married on Saturday, August 5, 1989. To this union came their sons, George and Ryan. Ora loved working and gave Aldi Corporation twenty of her best years. She later moved on to work with Corn Products, ABN AMRO / LaSalle Bank, and lastly Rothschild & Co. before retiring and moving to Green Bay, Wisconsin. While there, she enjoyed cooking! Consider yourself blessed if you ever tasted her greens, dressing, or spaghetti. Anyone would tell you that spaghetti “was a hit.” She loved cooking so much, she even subscribed to the Chef Carmen Channel on Facebook. If you were coming to visit her from Chicago, she often requested an Italian beef from Al’s or Portillo’s, like her dad. Ora was simply a giver and loved to spoil her boys and grandbabies. She was a boss from her chair and carried a loud voice, sometimes to the point where you thought she was yelling at you. Her voice would echo through the house with something she wanted you to bring or do for her. She loved watching her stories, Wheel of Fortune, Power, and The Andy Griffith Show. Just know she would not carry any conversation with you while any of these television shows were on. She was young at heart and everyone knew she enjoyed the music of R. Kelly, the Isley Brothers, and her boys got her hooked on NBA YoungBoy. Ora spent her retired years with her grandbabies and talking on the phone with her dad, sister, and best friend daily. They could simply talk for hours about anything and everything. She made friends everywhere she went, and her daily trips to Dunkin Donuts for coffee was a morning routine. Although she loved real flowers, her living roses were her grandbabies. She would stalk them (as they would say) for pictures and wouldn’t let up about it. She couldn’t wait to run to Facebook to post them on her stories. Her grandbabies were simply her heart’s joy. Ora was preceded in death by her mother, Sadie Bell Green Woodard; aunts, Pecola Green Roberts and Grace Woodard; uncle, L.C. Woodard; brothers, James and Carlton McCullum; and sister, Josie Stamps. Ora leaves to cherish her precious memories: her husband, George Howze III; sons, George and Ryan; father, Frank (Georgia) of Yazoo City, MS; bonus daughter, Chante; special daughter, Corinne Brandon; grandkids, Kayla (Drelan), Imari, G’Shauni, Gianna, Cincere, and bonus grandson, Darius, known to all as “Turtle;” sisters, Pecola Houston, Shawna Howze, and sister/ best friend, Zandra Gilliam; and a host of aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, nephews, and friends from across the nation who all loved her dearly.
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