Loretta Cordell

Loretta Cordell was born on the 11th August 1937 in Indianapolis, Indiana and was 41 in November 1978. Married to Harold Cordell, her personal life was complicated by her bisexuality, evidenced by the same-sex relationship she struck up with Deanna Wilkinson, with whom she lived for a period during her time in Jonestown. Loretta had joined the church when it had still been based in Indiana, and she and her family had followed Jones to Redwood Valley, California. In that time she had five children: two boys, Christopher and Jimmy Joe; and three girls, Cindy, Candy and Mabel Joy. Between moving to California and her eventual transition to Guyana, Loretta’s marriage to Harold Cordell was fraught. According to Denise Davenport, a close family friend of the Cordells, “By 1969, Loretta and Harold were having some serious marital difficulties, with arguments lasting for days. They would end only when Loretta left the house and stayed away for three to four days at a time…” In conversation with Davenport, Loretta herself offered up some explanation for her marital problems. Davenport states that “around 1972, during one of our few real conversations, Loretta confided in me that she did not think that men really understood the needs and desires of women, or at least that Harold never really understood her. She said that she had always felt that there was something missing [in her relationship].” As mentioned above, Loretta was romantically involved with Deanna Wilkinson, the principal vocalist for the Express. They bunked together in Jonestown and shared time at rehearsal as well as time on stage. It is alleged by one source that this relationship was struck up well in advance of Loretta’s transition to Jonestown. It is very likely therefore that Loretta’s marital friction was borne out of her own crisis of sexual identity. It is of note however that despite their marital problems and her apparent bisexuality, Loretta remained married to Harold Cordell, even upon their emigration to Guyana in 1977. She is best known within the Temple as the keyboardist at meetings of the Church on Wednesdays in the San Francisco Temple, as well as having made a significant contribution to the album He’s Able. Her occupation is listed by the PT variously as an accountant, bookkeeper and typist, and in the US had also worked as a piano teacher, but on arrival in Guyana she played a pivotal role in the Jonestown Express.