| In Memory of Willa "Tina" Williams - To View or Print Homegoing Program CLICK HERE! - If you would like to share a message on this page, please send email to successisyou@yahoo.com with "Willa Williams Update" in the Subject Box |
A Few More Remarks . . .
September 24, 2011
Such sad news for our family. Praying that God comforts us all.
Ebony Custer Gray
--
September 24, 2011
In agreement with Ebony. We are thankful for all of our time with Tina, especially at this year's family reunion.
Jean and Emmanuel
--
September 28, 2011
This weekend we pay loving tribute to the late Willa "Tina" Williams. We are grateful for her life and thankful
for all the time we spent with her, especially at the family reunion in Los Angeles just two months ago. This
photo, taken just prior to the dinner dance, is courtesy of Rasool Jackson. R.I.P., cousin Tina.
Jean and Emmanuel
--
September 29, 2011
Tina was the center of my life, always cheerful and so much fun to be around, I am blessed to have shared my
childhood and adult days with her. I thank her for being that strong support in my life, I will miss you my cousin,
but most of all My Friend.
Ron Andrew
September 24, 2011
Such sad news for our family. Praying that God comforts us all.
Ebony Custer Gray
--
September 24, 2011
In agreement with Ebony. We are thankful for all of our time with Tina, especially at this year's family reunion.
Jean and Emmanuel
--
September 28, 2011
This weekend we pay loving tribute to the late Willa "Tina" Williams. We are grateful for her life and thankful
for all the time we spent with her, especially at the family reunion in Los Angeles just two months ago. This
photo, taken just prior to the dinner dance, is courtesy of Rasool Jackson. R.I.P., cousin Tina.
Jean and Emmanuel
--
September 29, 2011
Tina was the center of my life, always cheerful and so much fun to be around, I am blessed to have shared my
childhood and adult days with her. I thank her for being that strong support in my life, I will miss you my cousin,
but most of all My Friend.
Ron Andrew
Those who have known Willa Williams have been blessed. Fondly known to family and friends as Tina, Willa
touched others with love, compassion and forgiveness. She educated others not just by what she knew and
understood, but by her presence and her conduct. Willa placed a high value on family, on education, and on
building bridges of understanding using the tools of love, compassion and forgiveness.
On more than one occasion Willa tackled the challenging job of sponsoring her family’s reunion in Cincinnati.
Each time she did it with a smile, each time with elegance, each time with an outward calmness that made it look
easy. And these were no “dozen hotdogs on the grill, get-n-split reunions;” these were weekend long
celebrations of how to share and to love others. She taught us well.
Three times I was a conference speaker at the University of Cincinnati. Despite her schedule, I could always
look up and find Tina (I have to call her Tina because now it’s personal). I could always look up and see her
smile, hear her applause, and even catch her giving a menacing look toward someone who was not cheering
her cousin on. She taught me well.
Always a source of strength, always a source of support, always a source of pride, always setting a standard for
others to reach for, always demonstrating how to reach down and help others, that was Tina.
We will miss her, but we must keep in mind that if we wish to honor her, we must become even greater
extensions of her love for family, for education, for community. I am convinced it is no coincidence that her
untimely passing occurred so soon after a memorable 38th Family Reunion which she attended, a passing that
occurred the same week as the announcement of our 39th Family Reunion, and within a week of a strategic
planning meeting for our 40th Family Reunion in the city in which the reunion was founded. I have to believe
that in this final exam, Tina is reminding us that the family that prays together stays together. We have been
dutifully charged to tear down any walls that may exist and build and strengthen the bridges of hope and
understanding.
I am confident that on this graduation day for such a much loved and well respected educator, Tina’s diploma
reads “Well Done, My Good and Faithful Servant.”
Remarks written by Henry Ford, and delivered by Emmanuel Lawrence during Willa's Homegoing Services.
touched others with love, compassion and forgiveness. She educated others not just by what she knew and
understood, but by her presence and her conduct. Willa placed a high value on family, on education, and on
building bridges of understanding using the tools of love, compassion and forgiveness.
On more than one occasion Willa tackled the challenging job of sponsoring her family’s reunion in Cincinnati.
Each time she did it with a smile, each time with elegance, each time with an outward calmness that made it look
easy. And these were no “dozen hotdogs on the grill, get-n-split reunions;” these were weekend long
celebrations of how to share and to love others. She taught us well.
Three times I was a conference speaker at the University of Cincinnati. Despite her schedule, I could always
look up and find Tina (I have to call her Tina because now it’s personal). I could always look up and see her
smile, hear her applause, and even catch her giving a menacing look toward someone who was not cheering
her cousin on. She taught me well.
Always a source of strength, always a source of support, always a source of pride, always setting a standard for
others to reach for, always demonstrating how to reach down and help others, that was Tina.
We will miss her, but we must keep in mind that if we wish to honor her, we must become even greater
extensions of her love for family, for education, for community. I am convinced it is no coincidence that her
untimely passing occurred so soon after a memorable 38th Family Reunion which she attended, a passing that
occurred the same week as the announcement of our 39th Family Reunion, and within a week of a strategic
planning meeting for our 40th Family Reunion in the city in which the reunion was founded. I have to believe
that in this final exam, Tina is reminding us that the family that prays together stays together. We have been
dutifully charged to tear down any walls that may exist and build and strengthen the bridges of hope and
understanding.
I am confident that on this graduation day for such a much loved and well respected educator, Tina’s diploma
reads “Well Done, My Good and Faithful Servant.”
Remarks written by Henry Ford, and delivered by Emmanuel Lawrence during Willa's Homegoing Services.
