Mary Lou Williams

Mary Lou Williams was born on September 13, 1930, in Smolan, Kansas. Mary Lou was the daughter of Merle Robert and Frances Irene Gibson Edington. During her grade school years, Mary Lou moved numerous times residing in Ottawa, Kansas, Guthrie, Stroud, and Hominy. Her parents started Oklahoma Tire and Supply with her Aunt Sylvia and Uncle Harold Koch. When the war began in 1941 the family moved to Tulsa for her 8th-grade year. There her father worked for the Department of Defense where they produced airplanes for the war.

Mary Lou's freshman year they moved to Cleveland where she graduated with the Class of 1948. A surprising event happened during her senior year while coming home from a band competition in Pawnee, Oklahoma. She met the love of her life Albert Eugene Williams. He followed the bus back to Cleveland, asked the bus driver where Mary Lou was on the bus, and invited her out to the movie premier that night. She had only heard about him through her dad, who had raved about his potential as a basketball player while playing in the Cleveland tournament. Following high school Mary Lou attended Oklahoma A&M for two years. On October 16, 1948, she eloped with Eugene Williams during her freshman year. While residing in Cleveland they had their three children, Marsha, Mark, and Janet.

Following Eugene's honorable discharge from the army, they moved to Okmulgee where he attended TV repair school. While living in Okmulgee she accepted Christ as her Lord and Savior. Mary Lou and Eugene moved to Cleveland where she attended the Methodist Church. Later they joined the First Baptist Church where she taught Sunday School classes.

In the late 1960's Mary Lou and Eugene moved to Hominy, Oklahoma where they purchased Oklahoma Tire and Supply and worked side-by-side for many years. Mary Lou began mentoring high school girls through the GA program and teaching Sunday School for many years. She later started a preschool program at Calvary Worship Center where she taught the babies "See and Know."

Her family was the focus of her life. She lived her life for her children and grandchildren. She loved to invite family and friends to her home for special occasions. Mary Lou's most significant accomplishment and greatest joy was being a homemaker for over 63 years.

Mary Lou passed from this life on Monday evening; April 10, 2023, at the age of 92. She lived her life around her husband, children, grandchildren, and most importantly, God.

Survivors include her three children and their spouses: Marsha and Dale Young of Dallas, Texas; Mark and Vicki Williams of Hominy, Oklahoma; Janet and Steve Upshaw of Jenks, Oklahoma; ten grandchildren: Tami Reichert and her husband Troy, Jill Young, Kaci Skidgel and her husband Chance, Kleyton Young and his wife Lauren, Kalyn Sell and her husband Jake, Jacob Williams and his wife Jennifer, Lyndsey Flewellen and her husband Blake, Ty Sparks and his wife Jeana, Ashley Edgerton and her husband Mike, Zeke Upshaw; twenty-seven great grandchildren, and four great great grandchildren.

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