Ethel Marie Williams

Ethel Marie Williams, 88, of Georgetown went to be with the Lord on April 17, 2019, surrounded by her family in her home. She was born on May 13, 1930 in Indianola, IL, to Mattie McCoy. She was married to Robert R. Williams in August of 1948. He preceded her in death in October of 2017. Although divorced, Robert & Ethel remained friends the rest of their lives.

Ethel is survived by: her three daughters, Brenda (Gene) Pierce of Georgetown, Debra (Ray) Gill of Georgetown, and Terry (Les) Shores of Mansfield; her six grandchildren, Tammy (Doug) Howard, Jimmy (Sabrina) Thomas, Chad (Michelle) Gilliland, Jason (Tabetha) Ellis, Clay (Kristin) Ellis, and Matthew Ellis; her fifteen great grandchildren; and two great-great grandchildren with one expected in August. She is also survived by her sisters, Penny Clore of Danville and Liz Thompson of Florida. She was preceded in death by two sisters, Chris Tucker & Peggy Carber, and her brother, Bruce McCoy.

For the last 25 years, she has happily spent her time with her life partner, Robert Bob F. Thomas until his recent death on February 27, 2019. Their relationship extended her family to include a daughter, Debra Faulk of Danville; three grandchildren, Tonya Miller, Gary (Cassandra) Hoaks, and Traci (Rodney) Miller; eight great grandchildren; and one great-great grandson.

Ethel enjoyed her blended family and loved each of them. She had attended and graduated from Danville Junior College and transferred to University of Illinois where she was awarded her Bachelors and Masters degrees, as well as Advanced Certificate in Elementary Education and Remedial Education. She worked on her PhD at Indiana State University. She was a member of Phi Delta Kappa Honor Society for Education.

Ethel spent most of her career teaching at Georgetown Elementary Schools. She was a pioneer for grant writing and with Title 1 in early prevention of school failure. She worked closely with Lucille Warner developing remedial reading programs.

Ethel was an advocate for reading and education. She loved being with her family, reading, and writing poetry. She loved books. She served as mentor and strongly counseled friends and family in education. She will be missed by all those whose lives she touched, as well as her Shih tzu, Molly.

A celebration of Ethels life will be held at 1:00pm, Monday, April 22, 2019, at Sunset Funeral Home and Cremation Center of Georgetown, located at 200 E West St., with Pastor James Blue officiating. Visitation will be held 12:00pm to 1:00pm on Monday prior to her service at the funeral home. She will be laid to rest in Forest Park Cemetery, Georgetown. In lieu of flowers, Ethel requested donations be made to the Georgetown Public Library. Please join her family in sharing memories through her Tribute Wall at www.sunsetfuneralhome.com.

Services Celebration of Life Monday April 22, 2019 1:00 AM to 12:00 PM Sunset's Houghton-Leasure Funeral Chapel 200 E. West Street Georgetown, , IL 61846 Visitation Monday April 22, 2019 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM Sunset's Houghton-Leasure Funeral Chapel 200 E. West Street Georgetown, , IL 61846