Ozell Porter Jr.

Ozell Porter Jr., 78, of Rock Island, went home to be with our Lord on Monday, July 23, 2018 at OSF St. Francis Medical Center, Peoria.  Services will be Noon Thursday at Second Baptist Church, Rock Island, where visitation will be from 11 a.m. until service time.  Burial will be at Rock Island National Cemetery, Arsenal Island, where military honors will be conducted.  Memorials may be made in care of the family.  Services entrusted to Wheelan-Pressly Funeral Home and Crematory, Rock Island.

Ozell was born on December 15, 1939 in Stover, Mississippi, one of four siblings, to the parents of Ozell Sr. and Jennie Hill Porter.

Ozell attended schools in Mississippi and Chicago where he graduated from Crane Tech High School.  At the age of 18, he joined the U.S. Army, where he served for over 24 years and retired as Sergeant.  He served in Vietnam and Desert Storm.  Ozell accepted Christ and joined the Trinity Community Baptist Church of Moline, Ill.  He found the love of his life in Lawanda Nunn-Porter in whom he has been married to for 35 years.  He is the father of two, Loretha Chardae Nunn and John Robinson.

Ozell worked and retired from the Rock Island Post Office.  He had a great love for gardening, carpentry, sports, watching westerns, fishing and being with his family, especially his mother-in-law, Dorothy Bragg.  He was known for his math skills and tutored many family members, as well as, students of Black Hawk College Alpha Center.  He also taught many of his nephews and nieces how to fish.  He was known to be very easy going, but a strong man.  Ozell would spend hours in his garage repairing items and re-wiring them to fit his liking.  He was known for calling you “Fat Head” especially if he wanted to correct you.  Ozell would love to hear his daughter sing “Amazing Grace” and one of his other favorite songs was “I’m coming up on the rough side of the Mountain.”

Ozell leaves to cherish his memories, the love of his life, his wife, Lawanda; his daughter, Loretha; son, John Robinson, Glen, Texas; 4 grandchildren; brother, Jimmie (Barbara), Lakewood, Wash.; sister, Bobbie Jean, Denver, Colo.; 5 sisters-in-law, Adisa Porter, El Paso, Texas, Loredia (Rev. Larry) Dixon and Latressa (Johnnie) Jones, both of Rock Island, Tammy (Jermaine) Nimmers and Pamela Bragg, both of Moline; special neighbor friends, Mike, Wilma and Beverly; and a host of aunts, nephews, nieces, cousins and friends.

He was preceded in death by his parents and two brothers, Jerry and Reggie Porter.

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