DURHAM - Mrs. Awa Williams Gillis, 91, of 5136 Sourwood Road and formerly of Fayetteville, died Wednesday, May 16, 2012. A funeral service will be held at 2 p.m. Tuesday, May 22, 2012, at Jernigan-Warren Funeral Home in Fayetteville. Burial will follow in Lafayette Memorial Park on Ramsey Street in Fayetteville. The family will receive friends from 1 to 2 p.m. Tuesday at the funeral home. Awa was born June 8, 1920, to the late Henry and Ethyl Williams of Stedman. She was a kind and loving spirit who touched many lives with her happy and positive disposition, her genuine concern and compassion for everyone she met. She had a great sense of humor and loved to laugh, even at herself. She grew up in a large and loving family, as did her husband, Ray J. Gillis. Together, they traveled all over the Southeast for 14 years with Ray's construction business. Awa made lifelong friends everywhere they lived, even if they were only there for a year or less. She always stayed in touch, with letters and photos. And each year or so, they would travel back to visit their old friends. They moved back to Fayetteville in 1955, and put down roots to raise their six children. Ray and Awa were true partners in a marriage that was built on passionate love and profound respect for one another. Awa was truly an angel on earth. She had a deep faith and abiding love for her church. She was a member of Pleasant Grove Baptist Church for 56 years and a Sunday school teacher for 40 years. Her spirituality was an inspiration to many. She truly led by example. She was cut from a rare cloth: best friend, best mother, best confidant and best grandmother. She excelled at them all. But she was very humble; she was truly good for goodness' sake. Awa touched many lives with her big smile, shining eyes and joyful laugh. She will truly be missed by many. She was preceded in death by her siblings, Hershel Williams, Hulda Roundtree, Maxwell Williams and David Williams; and her daughter, Helen Gillis of Fayetteville. Left to cherish her memory are her children, Glenda (Robert) Lewis of Durham, Jerry (Bobbi) Gillis of Memphis, Tenn., Tom (Anita) Gillis of Fayetteville, Harriet Bradley of Memphis and Elizabeth Ivey of Fayetteville; nine grandchildren, Jennifer Lewis, Marshall Faircloth, Elizabeth Wann, Ashley Renner, Allison Brownlow, April Moore, Michael Ivey, Adrienne Connor and Tyler Gillis; and nine great-grandchildren, Abby Jenetta, Dallas and Dillon Faircloth, Ava, Davis and Amelia Renner, Jacob and Jaxon Moore and Austin Ivey. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Pleasant Grove Baptist Church Building Fund in Vander. A funeral service will be held at 2 p.m. Tuesday, May 22, 2012, at Jernigan-Warren Funeral Home in Fayetteville. Burial will follow in Lafayette Memorial Park on Ramsey Street in Fayetteville. The family will receive friends from 1 to 2 p.m. Tuesday at the funeral home.