Willie Elizabeth Flake-Cureton , the daughter of the late Willie Maggie Mozella Burns and Willie Marshall Flake, was born on May 1, 1933, in Concord, NC. After 89 years of life, she went home to be with the Lord on Thursday, February 3, 2022.

Willie grew up in a rural farm area in Concord, NC and graduated from Cabarrus County Schools, in Concord, NC. She had fond memories of growing up with her siblings, Mary, Benny, Pete, and Queenie. If you caught Willie feeling nostalgic, she would sit down and tell you a story about growing up in a small town in the south.

After graduating from high school, Willie left her hometown to begin a new chapter in her life. Her first stop was traveling North to the greater Philadelphia area. Then she moved from Philly to Harlem, NY. It was during this time that she reunited with the love of her life, a young WWII veteran named Melvin Pete Cureton. Willie and Melvin met originally while growing up in Concord, NC. They had mutual friends and would cross paths often. After reuniting in New York, Melvin asked Willie to make things more permanent. They married on March 31, 1956. After the nuptials they moved to Queens, NY. They purchased their home in East Elmhurst, NY where the two lived until Melvin's death. Following, Melvin's passing Willie and her youngest sister, Queenie, lived together for the greater part of their lives.

Willie worked as a seamstress and member of the UFCW Leather Goods, Handbag and Novelty Workers Union. She was a very skilled seamstress who loved sewing clothes and handbags for a living. She also loved sewing for friends and family. She blessed many loved ones by making handmade clothing, drapes, quilts, and bedspreads. Her specialty was making quilts. If you wanted a product that would last a long time and keep you warm, then you would need a quilt from Willie. Everything that she sewed was put together with her love for her passion.

Willie loved to dress up. Everything she wore had to be in place. She LOVED to wear hats and shoes to match! She believed in looking nice in public. Her favorite colors where purple, red, and emerald green (colors of royalty). She also loved her community and would host card parties with her friends every Friday night. She loved playing cards and was good at it! If you were to ask what two words best described Willie, one could say she was very independent and resilient. She very rarely asked for any help. Especially when it came to taking care of her home.

She preferred to make her own home repairs. She also loved landscaping within her yard. During the spring and summer months she would spend majority of her days out in her yard pruning, enjoying her flowers, and her vegetable garden. She grew an abundance of vegetables and shared them open heartedly with friends in the neighborhood. She also enjoyed cooking and made sure there was plenty of fried chicken during the summer community block parties on her street.

Willie was very family oriented. Her best friend was her little sister. Queenie. They would dress up, go grocery shopping, and take trips to the Yonkers Casino. Even though she did not have any children of her own she treated her nieces and nephews as her very own children.

Willie was preceded in death by her husband, Melvin Pete Cureton; her siblings, Pete Flake, and Mary Sleigh.

Willie leaves a loving legacy to four nieces, Robbin Britton, Yolandi Graham, Patricia Anderson, and Magalean Flake; two nephews, Willie Chapman, and Randy Flake; three great nieces, Anaya Chang, Alicia Washington, and Zoe Chang; three great nephews, Thomas Graham, Michael Chang, and King Chang; and a host of cousins and close friends of the family.

A viewing will be held at A.L. Bennett and Son Funeral Home on Tuesday, February 22, 2022 at 10:00 AM followed by a funeral service at 11:00 AM. The interment will follow at Quantico National Cemetery at 1:30 PM.