Peeler Williams, Jr.

WILLIAMS, PEELER, JR. Peeler Williams, Jr., attorney, law professor at Baylor University School of Law, civic leader and descendant of Shapley Prince and Catherine Fulkerson Ross, the first family to settle in Waco, and of Henry Clay and Sarah Jones Williams, who moved to Texas from Virginia in 1957, died Saturday, April 13, 2002. A memorial service will be held at 10:00AM Tuesday, April 16, 2002 at St. Alban’s Episcopal Church with Rev. Frank Mangum officiating. A private burial will follow at the Lorena Cemetery. Mr. Williams was born in Lorena, TX on November 19, 1921 to Peeler and Gibson Ross Williams. He attended Waco public schools and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree and Juris Doctor degree, both cum laude, from Baylor University in 1942 and 1943, as well as a Master of Laws degree from Harvard University in 1947. He also attended the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration. During Word War II, he served as a Lieutenant jg in the Navy aboard the USS Pittsburgh, a Navy cruiser with the Fast Carrier Track Force in the Pacific. Afterwards, he returned to Waco and practiced law for 25 years with the firm of Sleeper, Burleson, Williams & Johnston, the oldest law firm in Texas. In 1972, he retired from private practice and became a full-time professor at Baylor School of Law until his retirement in 1991, Mr. Williams served on many civic and cultural boards. He was President of the Waco Boys Club, The Lighthouse for the Blind, the Waco Safety Association, Goodwill Industries, the Waco-McLennan County Bar Association, the Waco Symphony Association, the Better Business Bureau, the Waco Tennis Association, the Harvard Law School Association of Texas and St. Alban’s Memorial School. He was on the boards of Providence Hospital Foundation, the Friends of the Public Library, the YMCA, the Waco Chamber of Commerce, the Brazos River Authority, First National Bank of Waco, the Financial Advisory Board of Oakwood Cemetery Association and the United Fund, where he was General Chairman of the 1996 campaign. He was selected King of the Cotton Palace in 1972 and also served on its board. He was a member of the Masonic Lodges of Waco and Lorena. He was a member of the Waco Independent School District Board for 12 years, serving as President from 1963 to 1964. He was a long-time member of the Philosopher’s Club, Hedonia Club and Ridgewood Country Club. Mr. Williams was a long-time member of St. Alban’s Episcopal Church, serving three times as Senior Warden as well as several terms on the vestry. He was preceded in death by his son, Peeler Williams III; his parents; sister Elizabeth Williams Estes and nephew John Peeler Estes. Survivors include his wife of 58 years, Marguerite Margie Dunson Williams; children Carol Turner and husband Dave of Fort Worth, Joseph Brooks Williams, Shapley Ross Williams and wife Leann; and daughter-in-law Pam Bailey Williams, all of Waco: nieces Elizabeth Estes Taylor of Lorena, Rosalis McNamara Estes of San Juan Capistrano, CA, as well as three great-nieces, a great-nephew, and their children. He was the proud grandfather of Amanda Williams, Katharine Williams, Caroline Williams and Summer Tappmeyer and had two great-granddaughters. Honorary pallbearers will be Spencer Brown, Sr., Jerome Cartwright, Fred Crow, Charles Gervig, Minor Helm, W.D. Hunter, Jr., Edgar Jablonowski, Joe Kendrick, Sr., Paul Murphey, James Scruggs, Goodhue Smith, Sr., Thomas Stribling, Jack Van Zandt, Arthur Boone of Austin and the Faculty of Baylor University School of Law. Should friends desire, memorials may be made to the Peeler Williams Scholarships Fund at Baylor Law School, the St. Alban’s Memorial Fund or the charity of their choice. “He was a man, take him for all-in-all, I shall not look upon his like again.” William Shakespeare WILKIRSON-HATCH-BAILEY