- Date Of Birth: January 1, 1925
- Date Of Death: June 8, 2018
- State: Texas
Emma Ruth Williams, January 1, 1925 – June 8, 2018.
My mother, Emma Ruth Tatum Williams, was born on January 1, 1925 in Wichita Falls, Texas. Her parents were John Howell and Teanie Lee (Vance) Tatum. John and Lee Tatum had 8 children; the two oldest died as very young children. Mother was preceded in death by all of her siblings with the exception of my aunt, Ann Allen, the youngest sibling. My grandfather died of a heat stroke in 1937, and therefore I never knew him. Maw-Maw, as I called my grandmother, raised my mother and three other siblings as a single mother. She was a wonderful Christian woman whom I admired and loved deeply. I am Maw-Maw to all my grandchildren in loving memory of her.
My mother grew up in Coleman County, Texas in the small community of Shields, TX. She did not finish high school for she married my father, Walter Stuart Williams on August 25, 1941, at the age of 16. She had to get permission from her mother in order to marry.
By the time my mother was 19, she had given birth to two children…my brother, Robert Boyd Williams (September 11, 1942, who passed away in May 2012) and me, Barbara Lynn Williams Springer. My dad served in World War 2 going to the front lines in Germany when he was 21 years old.
My mother was a homemaker all of my life. How wonderful it was to be able to always come home from school and know that my mother would be there! She was a modest and shy lady but firmly disciplined my brother and me with profound love. My mother was a great cook; she made everything from scratch. She also was an accomplished seamstress; she made all my clothes including my wedding dress! I tried it on one day before my wedding; it fit perfectly!
During my early childhood, we moved several times, because my dad played professional baseball for clubs in Texas. We lived in Borger, TX, Ballinger, TX and Harlingen, TX. We lived in Harlingen, TX from the time I was in the second grade until 1972. Since my dad did not make the major league, he “retired” from baseball when he was 31 and went to work for Sears. My mother was devoted to taking care of my brother and me as she continued to stay at home.
Although my mother was very shy and quiet, she had an abiding faith in the Lord. We went to church regularly. Her faithful example was one of the determining factors of my accepting the Lord as my Savior when I was eleven years old. After I was grown and out of the home, my mother started volunteering in the church nursery…a ministry that she loved dearly.
My parents moved from Harlingen to Duncanville in 1972 and lived there until 2002. On July 23, 1996 my father passed away. Along with dealing with the grief of losing her husband of over 55 years, my mother struggled to be able to handle all that was necessary to live without my dad.
In 2002, I returned from the mission field to help my mother sell her home in Duncanville and move to Santa Anna, TX so that she could be near her sister. She lived in a one-bedroom apartment there until we came home from the mission field to retire in Salado, TX. in 2005. My mother’s health had begun to fail in 2002 to the point that when we came home to live in Salado, we knew that we would need to find a facility to help us take care of her. My mother was in total agreement with us. I remember so vividly her saying to us…” I do not want to be a burden; I just want to be near where you live.” So Mother resided at Park Place Manor in Belton, TX from November 2005 until June 8,2018.
On July 23, 2013 my mother was placed on hospice care at Park Place Manor. As her mental health declined along with her physical health, Mother remained gracious and kind to those who cared for her through Kindred Hospice as well as those on staff at Park Place. I would personally like to express a deep heart-felt “thank you” to all of you who had a part in the care of my mother these past almost 13 years. Even though Mother did not have any short term memory in her latter years, she still had her engaging sweet smile to offer when she was awake.
Some of you will remember that I periodically posted short videos on FaceBook of my mother and me singing together. On May 9 of this year I posted the last video that Mother was able to sing with me. When she was about to take her last breaths on this earth the evening of June 8, I quickly put my iphone up to her ear and played the song that she and I had sung for the last time on May 9, ”AMAZING GRACE”. When Il Divo finished singing the song (along with me singing the last verse with them), Mother took 3 or 4 more breaths and went HOME to be with our Lord forever.
Let me close by telling you all who my mother was. She was a devoted wife to my dad, a devoted mother to my brother and me, a devoted grandmother to her granddaughters, and a devoted great-grandmother to her great-grandchildren. She was always gracious, kind and loving to all! She had a wonderful sense of humor and I have recorded some brief conversations with my mother to capture that humor. Please allow me to read some of those to you today.
Survivors: One sister: Ann Allen, of Santa Anna, Texas. One daughter: Barbara Lynn Williams Springer of Salado, Texas. Two granddaughters: Julie Renee Springer Dean of Madison, Alabama, and Janet Lynn Springer Sanders of Austin, Texas. Seven great grandchildren: Hannah Dean, Jared Dean, Jason Dean and Gabby Dean; Matthew Sanders, Caleb Sanders and Sadie Sanders. Nieces and Nephews: Tony Allen, Becky Dillard, Guy Allen and Gip Allen; Barry Tatum and Gena Tatum; Babs Lombard; Mary Powers
