Funeral services will be held at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, October 26, 2019 at the Billy M. King-Colonial Chapel Funeral Home in Collins for Willie Merle Folkes, 79 of Seminary, who passed away on Thursday, October 24, 2019 at the Forrest General Hospital in Hattiesburg.

Reverend West Garner will officiate at the services with interment to follow in the Bethel Baptist Church Cemetery in Seminary.  Special music will be provided by Reverend West Garner.  Billy M. King-Colonial Chapel Funeral Home in Collins will be in charge of the arrangements.

Visitation will be held from 10:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, October 26, 2019, at the Billy M. King-Colonial Chapel Funeral Home.

Pallbearers will be Marty Dobbs, Brandon West, Terry Ishee, Eddie Madden, Tyler Henry, and David Ellis.

Mrs. Folkes was born on November 12, 1939 in Collins, Mississippi.  She was a loving mother and grandmother.  Mrs. Folkes retired after twenty eight years of service as a supervisor at the Kamper Park Zoo for the City of Hattiesburg. She was an avid bowler for forty years, and a member of the Senior Bowling League at Hub Lanes in Hattiesburg.  Mrs. Folkes was a Christian and a member of the Baptist faith.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Oscar Lee & Willie Mae Locke Moore; and one brother, James "Jimmy" Moore.

Survivors include her two sons, Mitchell Lee Folkes and Gary Elton Folkes, both of Seminary; two daughters, Arleen Goldberg and her husband, Charles of New Orleans, Louisiana, and Sonia Smith of Hattiesburg; one brother, W.L. Moore of Purvis; five grandchildren, Mara Goldberg, Danielle Goldberg, Jessica Madden (Eddie), Rachel Smith (Tyler Henry), and Andrew Folkes (Emily); three great-grandchildren, Brooklyn Smith, Brock Smith, and Oliver Folkes; and a host of nieces and nephews.

The family requests that in lieu of flowers, memorial donations be made to the Forrest General Cancer Center, 301 South 28 ^th Avenue, Hattiesburg, Mississippi, 39401.

Family and friends may sign an online guestbook at www.billymkingcolonialchapel.com