Dorothy Odean Blacknell Leaks, “Lil Mama,” was born February 15, 1940, to John and Edna Harris Blacknell in Sealy, Texas. She was a 1959 graduate of Dunbar High School in Temple, Texas. She was a member of Grace Temple Ministries in Temple, Texas. Dorothy was married to the late Jessie Leaks. She worked in Housekeeping for Ramada Inn Hotel, Howard Johnson Hotel for fifteen years, and for Camilu Care Center in Temple, Texas.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Jessie Leaks in 1992; parents, John and Edna Harris Leaks; brothers, Robert Lee Blacknell, Henry Blacknell, and Thomas “Butch” Blacknell; sister, Doris Jean Bellamy; and grandson, Brandon Blacknell.

Survivors are sons, Ricky Blacknell of Temple, Michael Blacknell of Gatesville and Rodney Leaks of Decatur, Georgia; sister, a Patricia of Washington, D.C.; two grandchildren, four great-grandchildren, and a host of relatives and friends.