AN INDOMITABLE SPIRIT

When Mrs. Lillian Harrison Croom Williams was born on June 8, 1922 in D'Lo, Mississippi, the Jim Crow racial caste system was well underway. Like other Blacks in the South, she was excluded from utilizing public facilities, including parks, swimming pools, and libraries. She had to step off the sidewalk, and bow her head, when a white person approached.

But though her physical movements were restricted, her mind was free. She had an indomitable spirit. She persisted.

She became an avid reader of books and other publications that offered a window to the world. She would often cite the encouragement and support of African-American teachers in the segregated schools of Mississippi and Alabama. Her parents, Noah and Carrie Croom, were among her fiercest cheerleaders, urging her and her siblings to attend college and to pursue career goals.

"People would say, 'Brother Croom (her father), you can't send all those kids to college" Mrs. Williams recollected, "He would reply, 'Don't you worry about it. You will see what I can do!"

In fact, her father, who had a third grade education because he was forced to work the fields in Alabama, had a favorite saying about college, she said: "If you're going to stay in this house, you're going to college."

Mrs. Williams became an award-winning school teacher in East St. Louis, Illinois. She graduated with honors in her biology major at Wilberforce University, where she met her future husband, James E. Williams Sr., a lawyer and the first Black mayor of East St. Louis, Illinois. To their union were born five children who likewise followed in their footsteps in the pursuit of education. She was an active participant and leader of civic organizations.

Mrs. Williams died peacefully with her family by her side on Friday, September 27, 2019, at Garden View Care Center of Chesterfield. She was 97.

CAREER ACHIEVEMENTS

As testified by observers, she achieved excellence in her teaching career.

"Mrs. Williams was my 5th grade Dunbar science teacher and boy did we do science in that class by learning all the main parts of the body and then dissecting frogs," recalled Sharon Adams, one of her former students. "We also built a volcano out of clay and used baking soda and vinegar to make it. I was 10 years old and now I'm 54 years old and I will never forget."

She taught in East St. Louis Public Schools for more than four decades until her retirement in 1994. She won the coveted Golden Apple Award for excellence in teaching.

But it was her spirit that captured hearts.

Former student Thelma Byrd-Tabron said, "I remember Mrs. Williams being the kindest teacher and so caring about her students." She made a little shy girl [like me] feel special which is what she did for all her students.

In the East St. Louis Public Schools, Mrs. Williams taught first-grade classes at both Washington School and Dunbar School. After earning her master's in Science Education at Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville, she taught science at Dunbar, leading her students to top honors in science competitions.

"My goal was to motivate children to learn," she once said, reflecting upon her teaching days. "I can see myself now at the blackboard, explaining a math problem, or playing games with children to help them remember words. I loved teaching."

COMMUNITY LIFE

As the wife of the late Atty. James E. Williams Sr., the first African-American mayor of East St. Louis, Illinois, elected in 1971. She was an ardent campaigner. It was a tumultuous election battle, as he sought to upset the entrenched political structure as an independent candidate with grassroots support. A New York Times headline on April 7, 1971, read: "Negro wins in E. St. Louis." Previously he had been the first executive director of the Legal Aid Society of St. Clair County. He credited his wife, Lillian, for encouraging him to persist in his pursuit of a law degree, too.

A devoted member of Greater New Hope Baptist Church in East St. Louis, Mrs. Williams had earlier professed her Christian Faith in the Deep South. After migrating from Tuscaloosa, Alabama, to East St. Louis, she joined New Hope where she was active in Sunday school and Baptist Training Union during her earlier years there. "We went to church every Sunday, rain or shine," she often said. "A spiritual foundation helps to guide you in life and to differentiate between right and wrong."

Besides the racially-segregated Jim Crow era of the South, Mrs. Williams lived through the Great Depression, and World War II, time periods with significant impact upon her generation. She received her early education in Electric Mills, Mississippi, later attending schools in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, before she moved North to East St. Louis where she attended Lincoln Senior High School.

Mrs. Williams married James E. Williams Sr. on July 8, 1949, and to this union were born four girls and one boy. In celebration of their 25th anniversary, the couple renewed their vows at Greater New Hop Baptist Church. They wrote in the anniversary program booklet: "During the time that we have made our home in East St. Louis, the citizens of this city have helped us in so many ways, and have made it possible for us to succeed as a family. Words can never express our gratitude for your generosity."

Mrs. Williams was known for her volunteer work through civic-based organizations, and through her sorority, Delta Sigma Theta. She was a founding member and president of East St. Louis Volunteers, a group that raised money for the city's police and fire departments. She served as president of both the East St. Louis Community Camp Board and the Lessie Bate Neighborhood House. She felt strongly that East St. Louis residents should help to raise money for the Neighborhood House, which had traditionally been supported through outside sources. She contacted others in the city, and together they raised money not only for the Neighborhood House, but also for the Cancer Society. She was a founding member of the East St. Louis Women's Club, and past president of the East St. Louis Chapter of the Jack & Jill Organization.

FAMILY LIFE

At Wilberforce University, she met her husband, James E. Williams Sr., during a college dance. She often told the story of how he saw her holding the coats of other students, because she couldn't dance. He taught her to dance, and the rest is history, as they say. Later she would pledge Delta Sigma Theta Sorority while attending Wilberforce.

Clearly, family life trumped all of her activities. "My great personal achievement had been being a devoted mother to my children and a loyal wife to my husband," she said in Black Women Role Models of Great St. Louis, a 1982 book written by Dr. Sheryl Clayton.

As the devoted mother of five, she urged her children to make every moment count. To underscore that point, she would quote this classic poem:

"Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,

Old time is still a-flying:

And this same flower that smiles today

Tomorrow will be dying."

She also had strict household rules and schedules: During the school week, she barred her children from watching television. She took them to the library, as well as other activities, on Saturdays. During the summer, she encouraged her children to participate in local library reading programs. She would buy books, read them, and underline vocabulary words that she believed her children should know. She encouraged her children, though example, to never give up. After the death of her husband in 1983 following a lengthy illness, she kept everything together. She made certain that her two youngest children, still in college, completed their studies.

Her children followed their own passion for education and professional careers. Her daughter Lillian, a Northwestern University graduate, worked as a reported for the Chicago-Sun Times and WKYC-TV in Cleveland, and later earned her PH.D in higher education from Loyola University Chicago, and taught at Columbia College; daughter Sherrie graduated from Brown University and Columbia University Law School; daughter Theresa graduated from Stanford and attended Stanford's medical school; son, Jimmy, a Dickinson College graduate, served as an officer and an aviator in the United States Navy. Today Jimmy owns the McDonald's restaurant in East St. Louis and 18 other McDonald's in the St. Louis Metropolitan Region; her daughter Darcell, a graduate of Washington University, is a longtime, award-winning Montessori School teacher in the St. Louis Area.

Her grandchildren follow in her footsteps. One granddaughter graduated from Stanford University's medical school, and now participate in her second year of UCLA'S Obstetrics and Gynecology Residency Program. A grandson recently graduated with a computer science degree from Stanford. Another granddaughter, a graduate of Harvard Business School, is Director of Drama Development at Twentieth Century Fox Television. Another granddaughter, a Stanford graduate, is a project manager at Facebook. Another grandson recently graduated from Northwestern University and is forging a career to produce films. Her youngest grandchild, James E. Williams III, is a high school sophomore with plans for entrepreneurship, following in his father's footsteps.

No doubt that her grandchildren will succeed. She is the sterling example.

Surviving are five children, Lillian Starks of Chicago; Sherrie May of Denver, Colorado; Theresa (Donald) Lyons of Yorktown, Virginia; James E. (Janet) Williams Jr. and Darcell (Melvin) Butler, both of St. Louis, Missouri; and a brother, Noah Croom of Warrensville Heights, Ohio. She leaves behind eight grandchildren, and a host of nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by eight other siblings, and her husband, James E. Williams Sr.

Family and friends celebrated a life well-lived during services on Saturday, October 5, 11 A.M. to noon, at Greater New Hope Baptist Church, 2240 Missouri Ave, East St. Louis, Illinois. Preceding the funeral, her family held a wake at the church from 9:30 A.M. to 10:30 A.M. Burial services were scheduled for Tuesday, October 22, 2019, at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery.