Walter Hayward Key

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My love for my PawPaw will always be alive. His smile was as bright as the sun. His heart was as solid as gold. Although he is resting in a better place, his legacy will live on. Sometimes I feel life has ended.

But I know it hasn’t because he wouldn’t allow me to stop trying. I will always love you!! My PawPaw, my knight in shining armor. Rest easy.

Love, Jas

~Acknowledgements ~

To have known Rev. Walter Key is to know how his life touched all of us with love and care. We appreciate the words of comfort and outpouring of love and encouragement offered through numerous calls, prayers, cards, flowers, and the many other ways you showed us support. We extend special and heartfelt gratitude to the New Hope Missionary Baptist Church congregation, the medical and administrative staff at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Memphis, TN, and the Emergency Department and Intensive Care Unit at St. Francis Hospital – Memphis. We ask everyone to keep his legacy alive by continuing to tell his story and how he personally touched your life. He may no longer roam this earth with us, but he lives on in our hearts and memories.

~Honorary Pallbearers ~

Earl Robert Key George Scales

Murray Keys Dwayne Morgan

Reginald Hankins William Thomas Our conversations revolved around the weather.

Sometimes, you knew the forecast in Wisconsin and D.C. before I did. Between us, cloudy days persisted with occasional storms, but I could feel that clearer skies were ahead. I planned to see you on Thursday.

You promised to grill for me (the original Memphis barbecue), an act of love, of reconciliation. I’m learning more about you in death than I ever knew in life. I will continue to curate your legacy, smoothing the rough edges as needed. Take rest and find peace.

Love, Kennedy and Leila

Joe Crawford Calvin Young

~Active Pallbearers ~ Roderick Hankins Allen Reynolds Carl Winston

Darryl Douglas Dominic Cooper

~Committal & Interment Rites ~

Friday, July 7, 2017 • 2:00 P.M. West Tennessee Veterans Cemetery • 4000 Forest Hill Irene Road Memphis, Tennessee 38125

~Repass ~

New Hope Baptist Church Fellowship Hall • 2731 Enterprise Avenue Memphis, Tennessee 38114

Distinctive Services by

Love ,Tori

PawPaw, with tearful eyes we watched you and saw you pass away, and although we love you dearly, we could not make you stay.

~The Family

3320 Millbranch Rd. Memphis, Tennessee 38116 901-452-7331 www.harrisonsfuneralhomeinc.com “There’s No Comparison To HARRISON” ~Since 1923~

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901.351.0753 www.mysticalprinting.com info@mysticalprinting.com

Life Reflections

“The time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith.” II Timothy 4:6-8

Walter Hayward Key was born to the late Manaway and Virginia

Key on September 13, 1948, in Oakland, Mississippi, the second of four sons and the ninth child of what would become a family of 13 children.

He graduated from Patton Lane High School in Batesville, MS in 1966.

Thereafter, he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps and served his country proudly in Vietnam from 1968 – 1970. Upon his return, he worked in various positions, eventually becoming a stockman in the toy department for the Sears, Roebuck & Company distribution center in Memphis, Tennessee. He retired after more than 20 years with the retailer.

Having accepted Christ at an early age, he accepted his call to the ministry in 1988 under the leadership of Pastor Frank E. Ray, Sr. at New Salem Missionary Baptist Church. He was a faithful member of New Hope Missionary Baptist Church under the leadership of Pastor Hosie L. Hopkins, Jr. for the last ten years. His presence was known and felt throughout the church and community. He was an esteemed leader and participant in several church ministries, including Bible Study, Youth Fellowship, Vacation Bible School, and Sunday School. He frequently consoled families in their times of bereavement, traveling across the MidSouth to offer words of comfort and be a strong shoulder. When talking about his own homegoing, he always said, “Don’t you worry about me when I’m called; my heart is ready.”

Walter, Daddy, PawPaw, Uncle Hayward, and Rev. Key—he went by many names to the people whose lives he touched. Known for his stature (6’1”), his skills in the kitchen and on the grill, his ever-stylish wardrobe, his quick wit, his full-bodied laugh, and his love for his family and community, he lived a full life marked by overcoming Mississippi poverty, surviving danger and loss in Vietnam, celebrating the many accomplishments of his daughters and granddaughters, guiding his large, extended family, and teaching and exalting the life of Jesus Christ, from the pulpit and beyond.

On June 26, 2017, the Lord called Rev. Key to his eternal home. He leaves to cherish his memories and carry on his legacy, two daughters, Felicia Blanton (Memphis, TN) and Tori Key (Washington, DC) from marriage to Glenda W. Key; four grandchildren, Essence (Petty Officer Second Class, U.S. Navy), Jasmine, Kennedy, and Leila; six sisters, Irene Childs, Ella Keys, Alberta Hankins, Elizabeth Thomas, Jerlene Keys Jones (Ulysses), and Debra Cooper; two brothers Earl Robert Key and Murray (Lorretta) Keys; one sister-in-law, Jacqueline Keys; and a host of nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends. Rev. Key was preceded in death by one brother, Waker Keys and three sisters, Arminta Rembert, Martha Sheegog, and Pattie Ruth Guy.

~Order of Service ~ Friday, July 7, 2017 • 12:00 Noon

New Hope Missionary Baptist Church 2731 Enterprise Avenue • Memphis, Tennessee 38114

Pastor Hosie Hopkins, Jr. Rev. Larry Butler, Peace Baptist Church ~Officiating~ Musical Prelude Processional Old Testament Scripture Reading...............Rev. Louis Haynes New Testament Scripture Reading...........Rev. Carl McMurray Prayer...............................................Pastor Frank E. Ray, Sr. Selection..................................New Hope M.B. Church Choir Words of Comfort.............................Minister Christine Glass Solo.........................................................Mr. Stevenson Clark

Expressions:

(three minutes, please)

Deacon Ira Scott, New Hope M.B. Church Pastor Nathaniel Cooper, Peace Baptist Church Family, Ms. Debra Faye Cooper, New Hope M.B. Church Selection..................................New Hope M.B. Church Choir Acknowledgements.....................................Ms. Karla Puckett Eulogy............................................Pastor Hosie Hopkins, Jr. Recessional