Brenda Williams

Before I met my mother she was born on a Sunday, May 13th, 1951 in Columbus, GA. My grandmother, whose maiden name was Kathryn Crawl, had brought Brenda into this world as the youngest of two daughters, between she and my grandfather, Howard Hubbard Williams. What I know of my mothers childhood during this time is that her maternal grandparents, Ma Kate and Pa Joe, owned a farm somewhere in the deep country, deep south, that my mother frequented as a girl. This was back when dirt roads were a sign of the era and all-purpose tubs were used to shower and clean laundry. Fast forward, when Brenda was about 9, there was a move to Chicago. The apartment my mother, Aunt Pat and grandma moved to was on 68th and Champlain. It was a one bedroom so snug the bed was the only furniture that could fit in the room. It was also during their time in Chicago when the family discovered Jehovah God. Brenda began studying the Bible with Jehovah's Witnesses. She made the truth her own and symbolized her dedication to Jehovah through water baptism on April 23rd, 1975, and became a member of the Ogden Park Congregation. In 1983, when I met Brenda she was already a working professional at the Post Office, a wife to my father, George R. Williams; a mother to my oldest sister and an aunt to my cousins, Joe and Dwayne. By 1986, Brenda's family unit was complete. Kim Joyce Williams, her big girl; me, Ken Robert Williams, her baby boy; and Karen Joyce Williams, who will always be revered as the baby. From my recollection, in many ways, Brenda was an extremist. When she found something that resonated with her she stuck with it. The post office where she spent 35 years was a large part of our mothers life. That was where she met our father and in December of 1980 was when she married him. To know my mother is to also know how much she enjoyed collecting things; VHS tapes, porcelain figurines, dolls...boxes. And the icing on the cake for her was finding these exhilarating things on sale. For hours every Sunday during my childhood "coupon-ing" was a family activity. The Home Shopping Network was her favorite channel, and just about everything our mother purchased she bought in twos as to share her enthusiasm with her sister Pat. When it came to sports, there was a time before Brenda retired did she follow everything professional figure-skating. Scott Hamilton, Michelle Kwan and Surya Bonaly were all frequent characters on the television screen. Post retirement she found an enthusiasm in professional tennis and could talk your ear off about anything Serena Williams. Films, to my mother, were no different. Her favorites were musicals and period-dramas. They were the type of movies that were either in black & white or styled after stories so old classic they should have been in black & white. My mother's last film craze was the 2013 movie Belle that followed the story of the mixed-raced heiress, Dido Elizabeth Belle. Brenda watched Belle everyday. So as much as I knew of our mother there is still so much I don't know and, now, will never. In the fog of her passing, I labor to remember all that she taught me and my two sisters because there was just so much generosity to her teachings. What did her modest, even-tempered life—what did it all mean? Brenda wasn't loud or flashy but she was visible and made her points clear. She wasn't fashion forward but she was a knockout for a bake-sale and made a mean spaghetti. She took care of everyone else before she thought of herself and not because she valued herself less than others but because she was devoted. She was devoted to her family, her marriage, her sister, her children, and grandchildren. She was devoted to behaving in love and ultimately to her faith in Jehovah. This made her brilliant. And that was my mom. My mom was brilliant. Brenda spent her final days as a member of the Fernwood Congregation. She leaves to cherish her memory: husband, George Robert Williams; one sister, Patricia Anne Morris; three children, Kim, Ken and Karen Williams; two nephews, Joe and Dwayne Morris; and six grandchildren, Kayla, Karla, Demetrius, Diana, Melanie and Aiden.

Tributes

Brenda Williams

May 13, 1951 - February 21, 2017