Memorial service held for Rev. Willie Barrow

CHICAGO (WLS) -- The late Rev. Willie Barrow's influence was felt in every generation and every movement where justice and people's rights were at stake. For all those reasons and more, friends, family and Chicagoans of all walks of life celebrated her life Thursday night.

The longtime civil rights leader died last week at the age of 90.

In the spirit of a true organizer, Barrow actually planned her own funeral service.

"An organizer doesn't leave anything to chance," says her friend Rev. Calvin Morris. "She is still leading us and giving us orders and directing us and doing the things she always did."

"In order to help us all be a little more rational and calm, she actually wrote down everything," says Patricia Carey, one of Barrow's goddaughters. "So it was rather easy."

The memorial service featured notable members of the faith community, including Rev. Al Sharpton, Rev. Jesse Jackson and Nation of Islam minister Louis Farrakhan.

"We come today to thank a servant that never stopped serving," Sharpton said.

"That's why we are here tonight," Jackson said. "Not because she died, but because she lived. We are celebrating the triumph of life over death."

"She was an advocate for women," Farrakhan remembered, "and friends shared her message."

Mayor Rahm Emanuel paid his respects, saying, "She led a remarkable life of progress that took her to every neighborhood of this city, to every corner of the country and, eventually, to every continent of our world."

Her friends and adopted god children, who wore purple, remembered her as a strong woman and a loving person.

"Never underestimate the sisterhood," said her friend Hedy Radner, "or the women who join hands for the cause of saying we are women."

"She was like a mother to me," remembered her godchild Pam Morris. "I could talk to her. I could call her at any given time, at any given hour."

"She had a sharp tongue," said her great-grandniece Nicole Dunson, "but she meant what she said and she would want us to carry on her legacy."

Friday there will be a visitation for Rev. Barrow at 10 a.m. at Vernon Park Church of God on South Stony Island, and a service of celebration at 7 p.m. Rev. Barrow's burial will be held on Saturday at 10 a.m. at Oakwood Cemetery.