Submitted by: Dan Rich
June 30, 1904 - Jan. 1, 1998
South Bend Tribune 1/7/1998
Mrs. Edna Lee Williams, 93, beloved
mother, grandmother and sister, departed this life at 9:15 a.m.,
Thursday, Jan. 1, at Northwood Nursing Home following an extended
illness. On June 30, 1904, in El Dorado, Ark., she was born to
the union of the late Joe and Annette White.
She received her education there and after
graduation, in June, 1923, in El Dorado, she was united in
wedlock to Erven Williams. To this union 12 children were born,
including a stepson she raised. The family moved from El Dorado
to South Bend in 1938. Those that will cherish her memory and
mourn her loss include six daughters, Mildred (Skeet) Denny
and Shirley (Carl) Pope, both of South Bend, Sara (Sam) Sodeke
of Chicago, Ill., and Kizzy McGee, Alma Jean Williams and
Katherine Williams, all of Oakland, Calif.; three sons, Samuel
(Lois) Williams of South Bend, Joe (Doris) Williams of
Massillion, Ohio, and Daniel (Evonne) Williams of Oakland; 37
grandchildren; 61 great-grandchildren; seven
great-great-grandchildren; three sisters, Mabel (Sylvester) Smith
of Flint, Mich., and Trudale and Elmarine White, both of
Oakland, along with a host of nieces, nephews, other relatives
and friends. She was preceded in death by her husband Erven in
1980, a daughter, Milrean Brevard, three sons, Erven
Williams, Jr., Lloyd Williams and James Williams, two
grandchildren, James Williams Jr., and Diego Williams, six
sisters and six brothers.
Funeral services will be at 1 p.m. Thursday
at Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church where she was a member.
Burial will follow in Riverview Cemetery. Friends may call from 7
to 9 p.m. today, Jan. 7, in Alford's Mortuary.