Whenever I spoke with Sister Dorsey, she was always cheerful and thankful. She never was angry or bitter, even though she lost both of her parents when she was just a teenager. She said she spent a while feeling sorry for herself, then she recalled that her mother had told her that Jesus loved her and He would never leave her. She realized her mother’s prayers were what kept her and encouraged her. Sister Willa Dorsey was a shining example of one who let the Lord use her and He truly lived through her.
Anyone who met Willa Dorsey can testify to the fact that she always loved to Praise God! She would not compromise her values for money or fame. All she wanted to do was to glorify God.
This is another photo of Willa on May 12, 2007, at International Gospel Deliverance Center, Apostle Prince Miles, pastor.
I was just remembering a time when we went to Maranatha Church in Portland, Oregon, and one of the guest musicians was Sister Willa Dorsey. We enjoyed her and the preaching that day, and afterwards we gathered in the fellowship hall. Our daughter, who was about 4 at the time, wanted to sit by Sister Dorsey, who was sitting at a table by herself, so we joined her. Sister Dorsey asked our daughter if she would get her a small piece of cake. Our daughter returned with a piece of cake the size of a one-inch cube. We both smiled at her as she approached the table – apparently her idea of ’small’ was much smaller than we had in mind. Since she had so graciously brought it to her, Sister Dorsey didn’t complain or ask for more – she just said, “Thank you, Baby,” and ate that one bite.
This was a comment on Willa Dorsey’s live performance of “Were You There”
Thank you for posting this.
I live in Sydney, Australia and have just come across these singers of this song on Youtube.
i love this Baptist style singing.
So much soul ! — markanthony1920
Here are some comments that were left about Sister Dorsey on various YouTube pages:
What a magnificent sister in Christ. I had her album, “I can Sing About My Jesus” as a kid and just loved it. -barnyardrose
I remember Sis. Dorsey. She was a wonderful woman of God. My grandmother told me she had passed away. She has truly earned her crowns of glory. — Lalaboobaby
I didn’t know she passed,God rest her soul. She had a wonderful voice! — Darneloh
Another gospel legend gone on. RIP. — JayEm86
I remember Willa Dorsey as a kid singing in the Deliverance Evangelistic Center in Brooklyn, NY under the late Apostle Arturo Skinner. “The Prima Donna of Deliverance” she was called. She had a powerful voice, and sang with great conviction. I had wondered what ever became of her, and googled her name yesterday, and that’s then I found out that she had passed. She’s gone from labor to reward. She was certainly a pioneer in gospel music. God bless her family. — bishopbj1
Wow!! I just learned of Sis. Dorsey’s passing and how sad it is, yet we rejoice knowing she’s with the Lord! Growing up in the Deliverance Evangelistic Centers in Newark, NJ & Brooklyn, NY under the late Apostle Skinner, Sis. Dorsey would come to our Deliverance Conventions and BLESS THE HOUSE!! She always had her son Billy with her, and he was a very friendly young man. She will be GREATLY missed! She sang with all the JOY a believer could have!! God bless her son, and all who knew her. — whitegs07
I have found 5 albums and 3 tapes of Willa Dorsey:
Albums:
Perhaps Today
I Can Sing About My Jesus (has 4 songs she wrote)
I’ll Walk with God
The World’s Most Exciting Gospel Singer (nominated for Grammy, 1969)
You Stand Tall
Tapes
Spirituals for All Seasons
What a Friend (Remembering Mary Crowley)
It Is Well
I have read about an album she did with The Mighty Faith Increasers and one called “Willa Dorsey in Holland,” but I have not been able to find them.
Six of her CDs are available at Everlasting Publishing
Spirituals for All Seasons
What a Friend (Remembering Mary Crowley)
It Is Well
To Glorify Him
Gospel Favorites
Willa Dorsey Sings
The song Sister Dorsey sang, “Perhaps today the Lord will come…” is going through my mind. “He’ll come… perhaps today!”
Pastor Willie F. Pride, Jr. with Sister Willa Dorsey at Everlasting Missionary Baptist Church in Vancouver, Washington, 1990.
Willa Dorsey at the piano
Here is a photo taken during the evangelistic service when Sister Willa Dorsey came to us at Everlasting Missionary Baptist Church, the first time I saw her. I loved her smile! And she smiled, filled with joy, singing about her Jesus. I loved her from that day in June, 1990. My husband already knew her and he was friends with her son, Billy.
We visited Sister Dorsey several times in a care facility in November and December 2008, where she was staying after being hospitalized for complications with diabetes. I was blessed to have several conversations with her, and I learned that she at one time lived next door to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and she was good friends with his mother for many years. She traveled the world singing about Jesus, appearing multiple times on the Lawrence Welk show and with the Billy Graham Crusade. Northwesterners might remember when hers was the last voice to be heard on Channel 8 in Portland before they signed off the air. She told me that she sang evangelistic services for Presidents and Kings, as well as for congregations large and small all over the world. She blessed us (our small congregation) at Everlasting three times in the 1990’s before her struggle with ovarian cancer, which she overcame in the late 90’s. She was first cousin to Thomas A. Dorsey who wrote “Take My Hand, Precious Lord.”
