Gene Lavell Williams

Gene was born and raised on a farm homesteaded by his great-grandfather - a fourth-generation Williams to live in Morgan Mill. His parents were Weldon Williams of Morgan Mill and Ursie Stigler of Chalk Mountain. He attended school in Morgan Mill and after graduating from Stephenville High School, he attended Tarleton State University, then Texas A & M University in College Station where he received a B.S. degree in Agriculture, then University of North Texas where he received a Masters degree in Education. He taught earth science, biology and agriculture in Sudan and Colorado City in west Texas, where he also coached girls basketball and sponsored 4 H clubs. He moved to Dallas in 1959 and married Mary Manning of Sheboygan, WI in 1960. They were married for 21 years. He taught science at Kimball High School, T.W. Browne Middle School and Edward H. Cary Middle School. He was active in science teacher groups and moved to St. Mark's School of Texas to teach earth science from 1966 until he retired in 1981. He returned to Morgan Mill where he substituted at the Morgan Mill School and became active in the Church of Christ, Senior Citizens, Morgan Mill Cemetery Association and Stephenville Museum, where he was a volunteer and president of the Board of Directors. He researched and wrote a book about his town called "Hurrah for Morgan Mill" published in 1996 that featured family histories of about 75 families in the area as well as stories of life in the early days of Morgan Mill. It is a staple in genealogy libraries and in homes of local families. Gene spent his last years at Oakwood Assisted Living facility in Stephenville. Gene is survived by his children: Kathryn Cook, Ann Dyer, Thomas Williams and Dan Williams of Dallas; Julie Dubas of Raleigh, NC, Beth Aaron of Collingswood, NJ and James Williams of Lahaina, HI; their spouses Andy Cook, Doug Dyer, Erin Williams, Bill Dubas and Craig Aaron; and grandchildren Nicole and Douglas Dyer, Zachary, Ezekiel and Everett Williams, Ethan and Ryan Dubas, Sam Aaron and Ocean Williams; and by his brother and sister-in-law Billy and Yvonne Williams of Stephenville and their sons Steve and Terry.

Visitation Details

Saturday, March 10th, 2018 5:00pm - 7:00pm, Stephenville Funeral Home

Service Information

Sunday, March 11th, 2018 2:00pm, Stephenville Funeral Home Chapel

Interment Details

Morgan Mill Cemetery