MR. BILL RILEY WILLIAMS

We honor our Heavenly Father for giving us Bill R Williams, Sr. as a gift for 100 years! Bill Williams was born on August 22, 1922 the sixth child of twelve, born to Elerie Donnie and Leola Williams in Telmore. Georgia. During his younger days Bill attended school, which during that time, was held inside the church. As the son of a farmer, the teachers knew that during planting season, he could only attend school when it was raining. Once the sun came out, it was time to go back to plowing. His family moved from Telmore to Waycross in 1941. During that time, the war had started and young men were getting drafted; because the family farm was backed by the government, someone had to work the farm. He was given seven deferments to work the farm so that the farm payments could be made. The one hundred twelve (112) acres was paid off in four years. When he went to the draft board to be examined, he was told that he had a heart condition and could not be drafted after all. As life moved on, one night Bill was attending the Assembly at the First Born Church of the Living God. While there, he went to the sandwich stand there on the church grounds. The stand was operated by several young girls. So as he was purchasing his sandwich he asked, “Do y’all have any older sisters?” and a young girl named Vera Regulus said yes. She told Bill that her older sister Ruth would be attending church the next night. So, the next night, sparks flew when he met the lady he would marry four years later. When he proposed to her, he said that he didn’t want a long engagement so they got married four days later. Bill and Ruth had five children and raised all of them in the church – Church of Christ Written in Heaven. As a member of The Church of Christ Written in Heaven, he was an ordained Deacon and held positions of Chairman Deacon and Treasurer for many years. After having various jobs in Waycross, he was hired by Atlantic Seaboard Coastline as a Boiler Fireman. He held this position for nine years. He worked in other positions at the railroad also. His supervisor observed his work ethic and put in a call on his behalf to the railroad manager. The manager asked Bill what he would like to do and he said that he would like to drive the crane. And so it was, he became the first black crane operator at the railroad in Waycross. In 1982 Bill retired with thirty years of service. During his life, people would always tell him what he couldn’t do and this became a strong motivation for him to reach his goals. When he began to buy a house and forty acres for him and Ruth to farm and raise their family, white and black alike told him that he couldn’t do it. Well, five years later the forty acres was paid for and he was buying more. He went to see a man about buying ten more acres but he found out that it wasn’t ten acres for sale….it was twenty. Bill said okay, I will buy the twenty, and so he did! What they said he couldn’t do, he did that plus. Bill would work at the railroad at night and farm his sixty acres during the day. As a side note, Bill was the first farmer in Ware County to utilize the Gastobac system for curing tobacco, and he also served on the USDA Board for Ware County for several years. People told him he would never be able to school his five children. But Bill was determined. As each one of the children graduated from high school, he made sure that they all got some type of certification or degree. When he took them to school, he gave them two checks, one for tuition and one for books. He told them to give him a call when the checks were written so that he could make sure enough money was in the bank to cover the checks. And so it was. Each of the five children graduated with their college totally paid for. • Bill Williams Jr. – Albany Technical – Automobile Mechanic Certification • Sandra Russell – Paine College – Bachelor of Science in Sociology • Glenda Young – Georgia Southern College – Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education • Helen Smith – Georgia Southern College – Bachelor Business Administration in Accounting • Levette Williams – Georgia Southern College – Bachelor of Business Administration with emphasis in Management Information Systems After retirement, Bill and Ruth would travel around Georgia looking and shopping for anything from a pretty dress for Ruth to farm equipment for Bill. But after three years of doing this, they were bored. So, Bill bought approximately eighty more acres of land in Ware County which was paid off in two years and started a thriving hay business which he ran for approximately fifteen years. One day as Ruth was putting a jug of orange juice in the refrigerator, she fell and broke her hip. She had surgery for her broken hip, but things were never the same and she died six years later at the age of eighty-one (81). After almost sixty years of marriage, Bill had lost his “Skipper”, his “Kitty” – (those were his nicknames for Ruth). Even in his older age, Bill still had the mind of a farmer. He talked to Bill, Jr. daily about the cows or the hay or the tractor. He still had a good appetite and would quickly tell you if the turnip greens you just served him were from the garden or from the store. He made sure that the check for his tithes was written for the right amount, and if you asked him how he is doing he would tell you, “ I’m doing the best I can.” “Doing the best that I can”. As we reminisce over the different times and situations he faced in one-hundred (100) years on this earth, it seems that this has been his motto all along. Doing the best that he could do. It didn’t mean that mistakes weren’t made along the way. But overall, he was striving to do his best. Recently in a conversation with his youngest daughter as he was thinking back over his life, he said “You know that scripture that says, Seek ye first the kingdom of Heaven and all these things will be added unto you? You know it works!! The Lord just helped me! Thank ya!!” You got me when I was an unformed youth, God, and taught me everything I know. Now I’m telling the world your wonders; I’ll keep at it until I’m old and gray. God, don’t walk off and leave me until I get out the news of your strong right arm to this world, news of your power to the world yet to come, Your famous and righteous way, O God. God, you’ve done it all! Psalm 71:17-18 The Message Bible On Saturday, September 24th, 2022, he quietly embraced eternity, choosing to be absent from his body and present with the Lord. He leaves behind five children Bill R. Williams, Jr, Sandra Russell, Glenda Young (Henry), Helen Smith, Levette Williams; nine grandchildren, Angela (Julius) Carter, Nyidra, Nicole (Jeremy), Chadwick (Melissa), Tiffany, Jennifer (Reggie), Henry, Jr. (Adrienne); eleven great-grandchildren; two sisters, Martha Silas and Ocie Slaughter; one brother, Alexander Williams, and a host of nieces and nephews, other relatives and loving friends to carry on his legacy of generosity. 

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