WILLIAMS, Stella (Granny)

The White Mountain Independent, Show Low, Arizona ~ 08/12/2014 Stella (Granny) Williams, 87, peacefully crossed over to her heavenly home Aug. 3 2014, after a courageous and valiant battle with cancer. She answered the call of her Savior surrounded by her loving family. Stella came into this world with the help of a local midwife Jan. 23, 1927, to William Edward and Dollie Mae Cherry, in Mont Brook, Fla. As a child of the Great Depression, she knew firsthand, what poverty and hardship was, yet when she spoke of the difficulties she experienced as a child and young adult, it was always about how those hard times made her into the person she was today and how grateful she was for those experiences. At the age of 18, while at a local USO dance, she met Joe Billie Williams and after courting for all of two weeks, they were married Sept. 6, 1945. From that time on they spent the next 69 years as inseparable companions. Joe came to Snowflake from Florida to work at the papermill in 1961, and the rest of the family soon followed, arriving in Snowflake Jan. 2, 1962. Stella always said that when she arrived in Snowflake, she knew she had found her home, the place that the Lord wanted her to be. Stella was very active in all of her church activities, making sure that her family attended church each and every Sunday. In the early days they attended the First Baptist Church and then Valley View Baptist Church. Stella loved her church family, and over the years served in various callings. The calling she most enjoyed was Sunday school teacher in the adult Sunday school. She thoroughly enjoyed studying and sharing the gospel. Stella loved her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and would share her testimony with anyone that would listen. Her faith, courage, determination and the love of family and friends is what sustained her and saw her through the many health issues and life struggles she experienced during her life. Stella’s home was always open to anyone that needed a place to rest or something to eat, and her children can tell many stories of times when they had to step over people in that little two bedroom home, who were spending the night and sleeping on the floor because they had nowhere else to go. Stella did not graduate from high school before becoming a wife and mother. She did however, receive her GED when she was around 45 years of age and went on to study speech therapy and become a certified speech therapist. Stella worked as a teacher’s aide and speech therapist for a short time with the Mesa School District and later for the Snowflake School District. She loved working with the school children and counted that as one of the most rewarding and fulfilling times of her life. Stella loved sports and enjoyed competing, and competitive she was. She taught her children that when you play, you play to win, to give it all you have, and Stella did just that over the years, playing on many championship softball teams and bowling teams, playing softball until she was in her early sixties and bowling into her 80s. Stella loved being surrounded by her children and grandchildren, these were the most joyous times of her life, and being surrounded by her family and visited by her many friends as she came to the end of this life gave her a great sense of peace and comfort. Stella will be greatly missed by all, but she will not soon be forgotten, as the lessons that she taught and the legacy she leaves will be passed down for generations. Stella was preceded in death by her father, William Edward Cherry, mother Dollie Mae Cherry, sister Peggy Manning, son Bruce Wayne Williams, daughter-in-law Susan Williams and granddaughter Rikki Rachele Williams. Stella is survived by her loving and faithful husband, Joe Billie Williams; brother Chester Cherry; sister Mabel Flumm; son James Michael (Kena) Williams; daughter Marsha Dawn (Robert) McMillen; son Mark Edward (LaDawn) Williams; daughter Teresa Dale Williams; daughters-in-law Eliza Robinson and Cindy Peterson. Stella’s posterity includes 16 grandchildren; 20 great-grandchildren; and two great-great-grandchildren. A special service, celebrating the life of Stella will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 16, at the Valley View Baptist Church, 1212 S. Main St. in Snowflake.