Our Beloved Cori Leigh Winchester was born May 2, 2013 in Huntsville, AL. Affectionately known as “Cori Leigh,” she was the third of our six children and the first of three daughters. From the time she entered this world, Cori Leigh brought joy and laughter into our lives. She was such a bright and shining light of love and energy. Her loving spirit is what we will miss most. She was quite the ten-year-old, with enough personality to light up any room.
Cori Leigh was in the fifth grade and attended J.E. Williams Elementary School. She had attended J.E. Williams since kindergarten and had come to love her classmates and school faculty like family. As a student, Cori Leigh excelled in her classes and socially. She would often tell us about her day at school, sparing no details and telling the story as only she could in an immensely descriptive fashion. As parents, we were never concerned when she was at school, because we knew she was somewhere that she was safe and loved.
When Cori Leigh was not in school, she spent most of her free time between competition dance and travel soccer. Cori Leigh started dance when she was four and would go on to join Mrs. Heidi’s competitive dance team at the age of six. As she grew into our little dancer, so did her confidence and her love for her dance team and instructors. We never had to ask or make her practice; she was dedicated to being the best dancer she could be. This was something she was passionate about, and she enjoyed every moment of it.
While Cori Leigh immediately took to dance, it took us quite a while to find an athletic sport she was good at. She eventually gravitated towards soccer. She started playing soccer at the age of five, and by the time Cori Leigh was eight, she was playing with the North Alabama Soccer Club (NASC) Hard Rollers Soccer Team. We bonded with the coaches and parents, and we became a tight knit group. We will never forget Cori’s first goal and the amazed and ecstatic look on her face. That was a great day!
Of all the great things Cori Leigh accomplished as a student, dancer, and soccer player, her most coveted role was her role as “Big Sis.” Her love for her brothers and sisters stemmed from the love that we shared as a family – that bond of unwavering, unconditional love. Our precious Cori Leigh was such a great “Big Sis” – teaching her sisters different dance techniques and making sure they treated each other right; watching over her little brother and making sure that he was comforted when he was discontent; challenging her older brothers on Smash Brothers and moving up the ranks in Mario Kart; and never backing down in “no holds barred” wrestling matches with her brothers and sisters in the loft. We could go on and on, but just know that our baby girl was special.
Cori Leigh passed on April 9, 2024, at Huntsville Hospital for Women and Children in Huntsville, AL. She leaves to cherish her memory, her bereaved parents, Cory and Brandi; five siblings, Camren, Benjamin, Bria, Carter, and Bradley; her grandparents, Hugh and Rosetta Golston and Sandra Winchester; her great-grandmother, Millie King; her aunts and uncles, Tiffani Golston, Chiquita Golston, Entwarne Cook, Jamaal Oakley, and Whitney Winchester; her godmother, LaTangula (Cardell) Haynes; and a host of great-aunts, great-uncles and cousins. She was preceded in death by her grandfather, Michael Winchester; her great-grandparents, Jim and Rutha James, Catherine Whitsett, Clarence Roberts, and Charles and Creola Winchester; her great-great-grandmother, Arlena Pettis; her great-great-uncle, Elbert “Uncle Sunny” Robinson, Sr.; her great-aunts, Nadine Jones and Gwendolyn Napier; and her cousin, Seantel Brye.
The memorial service for Little Miss Cori Leigh Winchester will be 11:00 a.m., Saturday, April 27, 2024 at the Saint Bartley Primitive Baptist Church (3020 Belafonte Avenue, Huntsville, AL 35816) with The Honorable Past Mayor of Mobile, Alabama officiating.
In lieu of flowers, please make donations to:
The Angel Fund in memory of Cori Winchester at the Heidi Knight School of Dance 111 Park Place Drive Ste A, Huntsville, AL 35806 and The Cori Leigh Soccer Scholarship Fund HSV.Hardrollers@gmail.com (Zelle) with the Huntsville Hard Rollers Soccer Team
