Lillie Adelaide Owusu

Lillie Adelaide Owusu was born in 1923 to Lillie Adelaide Bass Allman and Oscar Russell Allman in Forrest City, Arkansas, the eleventh of fourteen children. The Allman family grew up in both Forrest City, Arkansas and Poplar Bluff, Missouri and Lillie always considered Poplar Bluff her hometown. Lillie graduated Valedictorian of Phyllis Wheatley High School, graduating class of 1941, just as her older sister Margaret (Mag Alice) had years earlier. As a result of her graduating as Valedictorian, she earned a full scholarship to Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Missouri. She graduated from Lincoln with a degree in history and English and decided to become a school teacher.

During her time at Lincoln, she met Benjamin Owusu. The pair went on to marry on November 9, 1950, in Wood, Ohio, where her sister, Ruth (Polly) and brother, George Fred were Maid of Honor and Best Man. The couple moved to Lansing, Michigan, where Benjamin completed his master’s degree coursework and Lillie took classes towards a master’s degree in history. Lillie gave birth to her oldest daughter, Margaret Ruth Owusu, in Lansing, Michigan. Lillie moved to Ghana, West Africa with her husband where she lived until 1960. Her twins, Benjamin Kwame Yaw Owusu and Lillie Adelaide Owusu were born in Cape Coast, Ghana.

When the Twins were 8 months old, Lillie moved back to the states where she lived in Queens, New York; Detroit, Michigan; and Cleveland, Ohio. Lillie worked as a social worker and teacher while living in Cleveland. Her daughter Margaret graduated from John Hay High School in Cleveland, Ohio and earned a full scholarship to the Ohio State University. Lillie retired from East Cleveland School District and moved to Columbus, Ohio to be close to her grandchildren in 1979. Her twins graduated from Columbus City Schools and her youngest daughter also earned a full scholarship to the Ohio State University while her son went to the Army. 

Lillie remained in Columbus, Ohio where she helped raise her grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-great-grandchildren. She survived a heart attack in 1985 and colon cancer in 2008. She brought many to Christ through her undying faith and knowledge of the Bible. Some of the last things she told her loved ones were, “Take your burdens to the Lord and leave them there;” and that she was “walking up the King’s Highway.”

Lillie transitioned peacefully at Riverside Methodist Hospital in the early morning hours of March 22, 2024. Her beloved grandson, Edward Alexander Robinson was by her side. Lillie was preceded in death by her parents, Oscar Russell Allman and Lillie Adelaide Bass Allman; siblings, Woody Moses Allman, George Fred Allman, Robert Jefferson (RJ) Allman, and Margaret Allman Weathers; grandson, Kahlil Bass Owusu and great-granddaughter and namesake, Lillie Reed. She has left to cherish her memory her sister, Ruth Lerlene Quarles; children, Margaret Ruth (Oscar) Cogdell, Benjamin Owusu, Lillie Adelaide (Willie) McClure; Her beloved grandchildren, Tanikka Catriece Price, Lawrence Ali (Kanisha) Price, LaShawn Matthew Price, Dante Lamar Anton Owusu, LaTasha Ann (Roldy) Jean Louis, Marquita Dominique Wilson Samuel, Edward Alexander Robinson, and Briana Arlene Robinson. She also leaves behind a host of great-grandchildren, great- great-grandchildren, nieces, nephews, great-nieces, great-nephews and friends that she treated like family. She took her role as “mother” of her brother George’s children very seriously.

Her favorite scripture was Psalm 23, because it was read at her father’s funeral when she was ten years old and provided her with comfort and solace all her life. Her heart’s desire was that all of her children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren would accept Jesus Christ into their hearts. Lillie’s life is immortalized in the book, Walking in the Shadow: The Autobiography of Lillie Owusu, written by her granddaughter, Dr. Tanikka Price.

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