Shirley Sawyer

Shirley Tillery Sawyer died peacefully on Thursday, December 31, 2020 at Wake Forest Baptist Health.

She was born in Edgecombe County, North Carolina on November 3, 1947 to Luther Tillery and Beatrice Daniels Tillery. She attended Willow Grove School and Phillip High School before relocating to High Point, NC. She worked at High Point University for several years in the janitorial department. She loved the Lord and was a faithful and active member of Solid Rock Baptist Church where she served on the deaconess board and the president of the spiritual choir. She loved her Pastor and First Lady, Pastor Alphonso and Mary Martin.

She has touched many lives with her personality and her sweet spirit.

She was preceded in death by her parents, two sons, Leon Tillery and Skip Tillery; two brothers, Luther Tillery, Jr. and Joseph Tillery; one sister, Christine Tillery Battle.

Surviving to cherish her memories are husband of twenty-two years, Minister William “Bobby” Sawyer of the home; one daughter, Valecia Dunlap of Thomasville, NC; three grandchildren, Elder Brandon (Kita) Smith, of High Point, NC, Shaquelle Smith and Dawonna Lewis of Thomasville, NC; four great-grandchildren, a nephew who she raised as a son, Ronald “Bobo” Tillery of Rocky Mount, NC; two sisters, Mary Frances-Hawkins of Washington, DC, and Bernice Tillery-Lyons of Rocky Mount, NC; sister-in-law, Nancy (Dolan) Sawyer of Salisbury, NC; two brother-in-laws, Willie Little of High Point, NC and Tyrone (Wendy) Sawyer of Phoenix, AZ.

A host of nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends.