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We were in the office working a late night on September first when we began to see shares on Facebook concerning the ill health of our beloved “Big E.” He was admitted to Baptist Memorial Hospital in Oxford and was diagnosed with a critical case of pancreatitis. He was expected to be kept sedated (in an induced coma) for several weeks to help his body recuperate from the illness; it was also reported that he would be started on dialysis.
However, the first bit of news we heard when we awoke on the morning of September second was of the passing of this great man. Facebook had been taken over with “R.I.P.” posts, people from all walks of life sharing photos taken with Will Atkinson and expressing their sadness for the world’s loss of a great man.
Atkinson worked at Wal-Mart, where he brightened everyone’s day. He could often be found singing while he worked, and on more occasions than anyone could count, he’d plug up a microphone, put on one of his fabulous rhinestone-studded suits, and begin to collect money for LeBonheur Children’s Hospital.
Big E was 51 years old when he passed on. Will sounded like Elvis. He spoke like Elvis. And his true passion was for entertaining and making people happy. He’ll be missed just as much as Elvis. We like to think that right now he’s sitting in heaven wearing his T.C.B. ring and his shades, drinking a Coke at a table with Elvis Aaron Presley, perhaps singing a duet of “Suspicious Minds.”
A crowdfunding account has been set up by Will’s friend Charity Naron and can be found at www.gofundme.com/helpwillelvis. You may add your name to your donation or leave it anonymously. If you have the means to help Will’s widow Deb, we urge you to do so.
The words of Big E, “God loves you and so do I,” were placed on this GoFundMe page to remind us all who know Will that he really meant it when he said it.
He was one of the most genuinely nice people you could ever be lucky enough to meet, and went out of his way to help people all the time. His wife Deb is a wonderful person as well, who put up with Will when he got sick or cantankerous; and Will always said she plays a mean “trampoline,” one of his favorite jokes, since Deb sat in with the tambourine often.
Visitation will be at North Oxford Baptist Church from 5-7 pm on Thursday, September 3. And a graveside service will be held at 11 am on Friday, September 4 at Cambridge Cemetery near Abbeville. 
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