Kathryn Josephine Williams

Kathryn Josephine Williams passed away on March 5, 2021, at the age of 80.

Ms. Williams was born on August 14, 1940, at the Hotel Dieu in Beaumont, Texas, as the daughter of Floyd Everett Williams and Villa Mae Morehead Williams. She lived in Anahuac, Texas, from birth until she graduated from Anahuac High School in 1958.

In high school, Ms Williams was the drum major and head twirler her senior year. She also attended the Girls State convention in Austin, Texas, and was the president of the student council. She was a member of the National Honor Society, president of the Future Homemakers of America, a member of the girl’s basketball team, and voted Most Popular Girl her senior year.

Ms. Williams received her Bachelor of Arts degree in speech from Lamar State College of Technology in 1962 and her Masters of Science in speech from Lamar University in 1978. In college, Ms. Williams was a member of the state championship debate team that brought highest honors to Lamar Tech in the television series, “Young America Speaks,” during her junior year.

Ms. Williams taught high school for 33 years starting at Silsbee High School in 1962. She then taught at Del Valle High School and later at McCallum High School in Austin. After moving to Orange in 1967, she taught at West Orange Junior High School for two years before teaching at Little Cypress-Mauriceville High School from 1971 until 1981. She then taught at Hamshire-Fannett High School from 1982 until 1995 when she retired from high school teaching. She went on to teach at the Jefferson County Texas Youth Academy and at Galveston College for a many years before finishing her career teaching speech at Lamar State College Orange from 2005 until 2018 when she retired after 56 years of teaching.

Ms. Williams was an accomplished high school journalism teacher in the State of Texas, and was honored with the Edith Fox King Award for Texas High School Journalism Teacher of the Year in 1987. Ms. Williams spent her entire high school teaching career as a yearbook and newspaper sponsor, producing approximately 30 high school yearbooks while maintaining a monthly high school newspaper program. She also had a 27-year streak of having at least one of her journalism students advance to the state contest for UIL journalism events. She sponsored numerous individual winners of the state contests in feature writing, headline writing, news writing, and editorial writing in 3A and 4A. She was a dedicated high school year book sponsor whose yearbooks twice won the Interscholastic League Press Conference’s top award in the state for the years 1976 and1991. Her students’ yearbooks received numerous other awards and honors. Her students were consistently recognized at the state level in photography, including multiple wins for sports photography. She always maintained a working darkroom for her journalism students. She also supported high school theater and drama, primarily as a costume designer and also as a contest manager for UIL One Act Play.

As an English teacher she was a strict grammarian and writing teacher. She also loved teaching Charles Dickens novels and the plays of William Shakespeare. Ms. Williams was a student of British history, especially royal family history. She made several trips to the United Kingdom during her life in pursuit of these passions.

Ms. Williams was an accomplished swimmer and life guard. She won numerous medals in swimming and diving in high school in freestyle, backstroke and spring board diving, and she was a Red Cross certified swimming instructor who taught swimming lessons to children and adults for over 30 years.

Ms. Williams was a prolific seamstress and knitter. She crocheted at least 30 large afghans for various family members and friends and had four different sewing machines. Ms. Williams enjoyed making dresses and other outfits which she sold at expos and craft shows in the South East Texas area. She kept herself busy with sewing and craftwork for most of her life.

Ms. Williams loved the beach, having taken many beach trips to South Padre Island, Crystal Beach, and Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. She loved to travel. She also excelled at shrimp and fish frying, cake and cookie baking, pie making, fire baton twirling and putting together jigsaw puzzles.

She loved dogs and had many over her lifetime, mostly Welsh Corgis (like the Queen of England). She loved Charles Schulz’ Peanuts, Gone With the Wind, Marry Poppins, The Wizard of Oz, the Houston Astros, Matlock, the Price is Right, and the Andy Griffith Show.

Ms. Williams was especially fond of going camping with her Williams family relatives each and every Thanksgiving in East Texas, a tradition which has continued for many decades. Most of all, she loved Christmas and was known for having more Christmas decorations than she could actually store.

She was a fan of Elvis Presley and made many pilgrimages to Graceland during her life and saw Elvis perform live. She enjoyed New York City where she attended countless Broadway plays and musicals.

Ms. Williams was a beloved mother and grandmother who spent much of her life in service to her children David and Christopher and later her grandchildren Sydney and Cameron whom she adored most of all.

Ms. Williams attended church at the Golden Triangle Church of Christ in Nederland, Texas, and was a member of that congregation for over 60 years.

Visitation will be held at Claybar Funeral Home in Orange on Tuesday, March 9, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Services will be held at the Mont Belvieu Church of Christ at 9902 Eagle Drive in Mont Belvieu starting at 10 a.m., Wednesday, March 10.

Ms. Williams will be buried after a graveside service at the Williams-Barber Family Cemetery in Barbers Hill, Texas, behind the former site of the Mont Belvieu Church of Christ.

Pallbearers will be Tan Williams, Tim Williams, Danny Williams, Matthew Williams, Ron Earles and Cameron Smith.

Ms. Williams is survived by her sons David Cash Smith and Christopher Scott Smith and his wife Rebecca Patterson Smith and her two grandchildren Sydney Caroline Smith and Cameron Scott Smith. She is also survived by her brother Dr. Drew Davis Williams and his wife Marilyn, and her brother Everett Barker Williams and his wife Shirley. She is also survived by her 10 nieces and nephews and their spouses and families.