Sal Wilford

Essie Lee “Sal” Wilford, 84, of Casa Grande died on Dec. 17, 2010, at La Estancia Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Phoenix.
Visitation will begin at 10 a.m. today at J. Warren Funeral Services, Cole & Maud The Gardens Chapel. The funeral will follow at 11. Burial will be in Mountain View Cemetery.
Mrs. Wilford was born on June 1, 1926, in Crockett, Texas, and was a daughter of Mack and Jenny Hawkins Tillis. She and her husband moved to Arizona in 1944 to do farm work. She later was a seamstress and homemaker. In the 1960s she worked for a state-funded program teaching young women to sew and cook.
Survivors include two daughters, Caroleen Wilford of Casa Grande and Donna Mixon of Phoenix; a son, Harry Wilford Jr. of Casa Grande; a sister, Laura Lewis of Frederick, Md.; 10 grandchildren; and 16 great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her husband, Harry H. Sr.; two daughters, Erma Hillis and Melody Bigham; and four brothers, Buddy and J.D. Cloves, J.W. West and Bonnie Masters.