Louise Waddell

Louise Waddell was born on October 2, 1937 in Lexington, Mississippi to the late George Waddell and Queen Anderson. George Waddell moved to New York City when Louise was 12 years old and married Jeffie Jackson, who lovingly raised her and her sister. As a child, Louise grew up in Harlem, NY and attended the public school system graduating from Mabel Dean Bacon Vocational High School where she perfected the trade of dress making.

Later in life Louise moved to the Bronx, NY where she had five loving children: George, Freddie, Jeffrey, Donald and Lisa. Louise was employed with the Children’s Television Workshop (CTW), also known as the Sesame Street Workshop, as an Office Cleaner. She also worked part time as a Housekeeper and Home Health Aide to provide for her family. In 2007 she retired after forty years of dedicated service.

Louise was known by many names: “Boss Lady”, “Sweet Louise”, “Lou”, “Momma Walker” and “Momma Dukes” to name a few. She was well known in her community and worked to ensure that it was safe for all by volunteering with the N.Y.C.H.A Tenant Association of Forest House Development in buildings 965 and 730. Many people knew Louise not only as a devoted mother to her children, but as the “Queen Mother” to a village of other children in the Forest Houses Development and surrounding communities within the Bronx. She was lovingly known for making her strawberry and lemon cakes, as well as giving many children in the community birthday and Christmas gifts. She was truly everyone’s mother and grandmother.

She was a “Straight Shooter” who told it as she saw it and held nothing back when it came to sharing her wisdom and sage advice on any subject matter. She always told you what she was feeling whether you liked it or not and never held her tongue. That’s what made her one of a kind. She would often refer to Frank Santra’s song “My Way,” because she certainly did it her way. If you close your eyes right now, you can hear her saying one of her most famous lines “I’m doing it my way”, “You know what I mean” and “Am I right”.

As a mother, Louise believed her children benefited from her example of hard work, her tireless focus on education and learning from her multitude of life experiences. Through “Momma Walker’s” tutelage and love, her children and the children in the village learned many things. She felt that there were always lessons to be learned, such as, being non-judgmental, unselfish living, doing the right thing and continually stressing the importance of family. Momma Walker instilled perseverance in her children and an understanding that ALL things could be achieved through faith in God and belief in the plans he had in store for you. Louise believed in living right, being steadfast and letting God move in his time.

In her spare time Louise would walk through the community of 156th Street and Third Ave. running her errands, feeding neighborhood stray cats, uplifting people along the way and hanging out in “Kennedy Fried Chicken”. She loved her fried chicken, side of fries, cole slaw, sweet potato pie and a pint of Haagen Dazs vanilla ice cream. She would lounge around the house watching her soap operas, the Wendy Williams Show, CNN and chatting on the phone with her long-term friend (Pat) of over 55 years. She also enjoyed traveling to Atlantic City, the Nordic Lodge, Carnival cruises and visiting her family in Chicago. Louise also had a special place and love in her heart for her beloved cats Mickey and Pretty Girl, who had their own room and lavished them with treats daily.

Louise was the type of woman who loved the best of the best and worked hard to ensure her family had just that. She was truly blessed; however, not only with tangible things, but she was blessed to lead a wealthy life full of love, commitment, dedication and prosperity. You could always hear her saying “material things come and go, but love and understanding is forever”. Of her many sayings, this one resonated the most and got the family through both good and bad times.

Louise leaves this earthly realm to join her parents, Queen Anderson, George Waddell, Jeffie Waddell and her two sisters, Nisa Muhammad and Bettye Holmes.

Celebrating her life and carrying on her legacy are her five children, George (Brenda), Freddie (Gail), Jeffrey, Donald and Lisa; six grandchildren, Amanda, George Jr. (Crystal), Reggie (Idna), Tiffany, Jakolbi and Cheyenne; five great-grandchildren, Larell, George III, Neveah, Bella and a new addition soon to come; nieces, Leslie, Fatinah and Saadiqah; great-niece, Leah; great-nephews, Darryl and John Jr; three goddaughters, Burnerdean, Monique and Tawanna and a host of cousins, friends and loved ones.

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