Lillian Williams

ROLLA, Mo. -- Lillian Irene Williams, 92, of Rolla passed away Monday, Dec. 16, 2013, at the Phelps County Regional Medical Center.

She was born March 21, 1921, in Marquand, Mo., daughter of Marvin Dane and Mabel Irene Kelley Ward. She and Lt. Col. Cecil Bennett Williams were united in marriage July 12, 1942, in St. Louis.

Lillian was a member of the Rock Hill Presbyterian Church in Rock Hill, Mo. She taught school for three years in the same one-room schoolhouse she attended as a child near Marquand in Madison County. She worked at Curtis Wright during World War II, and after the war she was a private secretary at Missouri Illinois Material Co. In her later years, she became the manager at the Art Mart Inc. in Warson Woods, Mo., and then at the Kirkwood, Mo., store from which she retired.

Lillian and C.B. enjoyed traveling and visited all 50 states, as well as Canada, Mexico and Europe. Lillian loved to dance, and enjoyed all types of music and spending time with her family. She always had a beautiful smile for everyone.

Survivors include her husband, Lt. Col. Cecil Bennett Williams; two daughters, Linda Diane (Charles Richard) Armistead of St. James, Mo., and Terri Lynn (Gerald Warner) Carlson of Richmond, Va.; three grandchildren, Michael Charles Armistead, Gerald Leon Carlson and Jennifer Nicole Carlson; and two nephews, Donald Loy Ward and Rick Dee Williams.

She was preceded in death by her parents; a brother, Loy Russell Ward; a nephew, Clyde Delano Ward; and a niece, Vicky Lee Moore.

Visitation will be from 11 a.m. to noon Saturday at the Liley Funeral Home in Patton, Mo.

The funeral will be at noon Saturday at the funeral home, with the Rev. Fred Ritter officiating. Interment will follow in the Patton Cemetery in Patton.