Doris Olive Williams

Doris Williams

Doris Olive Williams was born to George Lee and Hannah Jemima (Russell) Maxwell on November 9, 1925 at a farm outside Stratton, Nebraska. She attended school in Stratton and graduated from high school in 1943.

Doris married Ellsworth “Edgie” Wilson on January 8, 1947 in St. Francis, Kansas. The couple settled in Benkelman, Nebraska where Edgie ran a blacksmith, welding and repair business. Doris worked as a school teacher, telephone operator, and hospital laboratory technician. After Edgie passed away in 1973, Doris went to nursing school in North Platte, Nebraska and became a Licensed Practical Nurse. Doris married Robert Charles Williams on January 11, 1977 in Las Vegas, Nevada and she relocated to Cambridge, Nebraska where she worked in the hospital and long term care facility until she retired in 1986.

Doris came from a large family and married into a larger one. She enjoyed close relationships with siblings, in-laws and with many of her nieces and nephews from their birth to her final days. She cherished the moments when her kids and grandkids would gather for special occasions, play games and banter. She had a life-long love of card games and greeted a good joke with a smile and a chuckle.

Doris was a dedicated mother who worked through many hardships to ensure that each of her children had the opportunity to pursue and enjoy a good life. Her faith and a quiet determination saw her through her life’s most difficult challenges - serious injury in an automobile accident, the untimely loss of her daughter, Sandi, and of her two husbands. Her faith only grew as she entered her later years.

Doris passed away Sunday evening, February 7, 2016 at the Sarah Ann Hester Memorial Home in Benkelman, Nebraska. She was 90 years of age.

Doris was preceded in death by her parents, husbands: Ellsworth Wilson (September 15, 1973) and Robert Williams (July 29, 2010), daughter Sandra Jean (May 31, 2003), step-son, Charles Williams, and brothers and sisters: Marion and wife, Olga Maxwell, Anna Maxwell (died in infancy), Opal and husband, Dent Gallatin, James and wife, Margaret Maxwell, Ruth and husband, Clyde Brown, Marjorie and husband, Jesse Bailey, Jean and husband, Carl Stute, and Robert Maxwell.

Survivors include:
Son, Jack Wilson and wife, Margie Gale of St. Petersburg, Florida
Daughter, Linda Wilson of Vancouver, Washington
Son-in-law, Glendon Foight of Grand Island, Nebraska
Step-son, Danny Williams of Mesquite, Nevada
Step-daughter, Tina Jackson and husband, Mike of Mesquite, Nevada
Sisters-in-law: Iris Maxwell of Sun City, Arizona, Rachel Frederick of Syracuse, New York and Donna Haines and husband, Marvin of Benkelman, Nebraska
Brothers-in-law: Burdette Wilson and wife, Jackie of Wauneta, Nebraska and Jack Wilson and wife, Ina Mae of Imperial, Nebraska
Four grandchildren: Derek and wife, Lisa Foight of Austin, Texas; Ra’Lynn and husband, Tom Jacobsen of Kearney, Nebraska; Devin Foight of Grand Island, Nebraska; and Karisa and husband, Chris Hamann of Spearfish, South Dakota
Eight great-grandchildren: Taylor and Jordan Foight; Tyler, Nathan and Cassandra Jacobsen; Jakson Foight; and Jadyn and Nicholas Hamann and a host of nieces and nephews

Funeral services will be held at 11:00 A.M. (Mountain Time), Saturday, February 13, 2016 at the United Methodist Church in Benkelman, Nebraska. Interment will follow in the Benkelman Cemetery in Benkelman, Nebraska.

Visitation will be held Friday afternoon from 2:00-6:00 P.M. (Mountain Time) at the United Methodist Church in Benkelman.

A Memorial has been established to the Sarah Ann Hester Memorial Home, Benkelman, Nebraska in Doris’ memory.

Online condolences can be left at liewerfunrealhome.com

BENKELMAN MEMORIAL CHAPEL IS ENTRUSTED WITH ARRANGEMENTS