Williams, Edith Walker

Funeral services for Edith Walker Williams, 88, of Longview, will be 10 a.m. 
Monday, July 2, 2007, at the chapel of Rader Funeral Home of Longview, with Dr. 
Richard Hollingsworth officiating. Interment will follow in Alpine Cemetery.

The family will greet friends at the funeral home today, July 1, 2007, from 3 
to 5 p.m.

Mrs. Williams went to be with her Lord Thursday afternoon at her residence.

Edith was born March 25, 1919, in El Dorado, Arkansas, to Johnny W. and Cleo 
Bama Walker, deceased. She was very creative and loved to crochet, dabble with 
painting and sew. But her most appreciated skill was her ability to cook-no 
recipes-just a dab of this and a pinch of that, and the dish was fabulous. She 
was an excellent homemaker and a member of the Alpine Presbyterian Church. She 
was a loving wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, aunt and friend. She 
was the wisest of women. Her best advice was to "follow your heart," "pick your 
battles carefully" and "learn from your mistakes and move forward." 

Edith (Mamaw) moved to Longview with her family in the 1930s, where she began 
attending Longview High School as a ninth-grade student. The students were 
seated in alphabetical order, and as fate would have it, she found herself 
seated directly in front of the "most handsome boy."  She said, "Hi, my name is 
Edith, and that was the beginning of a beautiful love story between her and 
Lewis E. Williams Sr. (Papaw). At 18, Lewis proposed to Edith and went to the 
courthouse, where his uncle was clerk of court, to obtain a marriage license, 
but his uncle told him that he couldn't give him the license until Lewis' 
mother (Claire) had given her signed consent. After obtaining his Mom's consent, 
they were married. They moved into a small 2-bedroom home just a few hundred 
feet away from his birth home, and they had been there since that time-almost 
70 years. 

Mrs. Williams is survived by her husband of 70 years, Lewis Williams Sr. of 
Longview; son, Lewis Williams Jr. and wife, Dolores, of Alba; grandson, Dean 
Williams and wife, Cyndi, of Hallsville; granddaughters, Becky Holman and 
husband, Walter, of Austin, Brenda Haigwood and husband, Scottie, of Waskom, 
Kim Jackson and husband, Mark, of Marshall and Kyla Burke and husband, Brad, 
of Marshall; daughter in law, Patsy Williams; great-grandchildren, Cole and 
Brittney Holman, Christin and Jonathan "J.C." Haigwood, Jarrett and Kerrigan 
Jackson, Ava Taylor Burke and Jeremy, and D.J. and Crystal Williams; nieces 
and nephews, Patricia Bowles, Virginia Boswell, Paula Rogers, Claire Koonce, 
Bill Williams Jr. and Bobby Coffee.

She was preceded in death by her eldest son, Johnny Taylor Williams of Marshall.

Pallbearers will be Walter Holman, Scottie Haigwood, Brad Burke, Mark Jackson, 
Patrick Bowles, Brad Bowles, Jeffrey Bowles, Denny Bowles, Larry Boswell, Tim 
and Ryan Rogers.

The family requests memorials be made to Heart'sWay Hospice, 1300 Pine Tree Rd., 
Longview, TX 75604; Texas Oncology, 1300 N. 4th St., Longview, TX 75601; or 
Alpine Church Cemetery Fund, c/o Barry Henderson, 3100 Airline Rd., Longview, 
TX  75605.

A memorial guestbook may be signed online at www.raderfh.com

Published in the Longview News-Journal on 7/1/2007.