Von Gretchen. (Watermark Out News file photo)
SANFORD | A celebration and remembrance of life will be held for Central Florida drag entertainer Willie H. King Jr., also known as Von Gretchen, Aug. 17 from 3-6 p.m. at The Sanford Galleon.
Michael Foster, director of Sanford Pride, is organizing the tribute. He worked with King years ago but says the two had lost communication with each other. He was at a local restaurant when he ran into King and learned from his partner that King was known as Von Gretchen.
Foster says he only knew King as his coworker from many years ago and had no idea about his drag performances.
“When the news of Willie’s passing came… I jumped right on the fact that we had to make sure that this is taken care of as far as recognizing Willie,” Foster says.
While gathering information to put together a service, Foster learned that King’s family was planning a memorial service.
“They were making explicit plans that it was only for Willie and not to bring up any of the Von Gretchen experiences and or display of any of the Von Gretchen pictures,” Foster explains, which Watermark Out News was unable to verify.
“So we respect that because the family needed their time to do their process as well,” he continues. “But the community, we felt this is a missed opportunity for the community to be able to get together and mourn the loss of Von Gretchen as well as Willie King.”
For the memorial, Foster wants to give everyone the opportunity to remember King in the way they knew him. He has gotten comments from people as far as Hawaii and Michigan who have shared their stories about how they knew the entertainer.
King spoke candidly with Watermark Out News in 2018 about his contributions in Orlando’s entertainment industry during the 1980s. Even though Von Gretchen was successful, out and proud, the entertainer performed drag in virtual secrecy to avoid persecution.
“If we had to travel we had to go to the club very early and get dressed inside,” King shared at the time. “When we were done we had to get out early and make sure we were changed and everything before we hit the parking lot.”
King appreciated how times had changed. He applauded the increase in racial diversity that he saw on stages and gave kudos to the LGBTQ+ community at large for being more accepting of trans individuals.
Foster calls King a “legend” because he impacted so many.
“I would hope that he would appreciate the fact that his memory lives on still changing people’s lives,” Foster says.
As Foster finalizes the service, he is still looking to fill another spot for entertainment as there will be some performances. He is also looking for help with video editing as he wants there to be a video played of King’s performances as Von Gretchen.
He wants people to come out and share their stories at the service. There will be light hors d’oeuvres and refreshments.
The celebration and remembrance of life will be held Aug. 17 at The Sanford Galleon from 3-6 p.m. More information on the service can be found on Facebook.
