Betty Mae Fenwick Williams, of Williamsburg, died Jan. 3, 2015, at the age of 91.
Born Jan. 28, 1923, in Ann Arbor, Michigan, to Herbert Sidney Fenwick and Charlotte Ruth Pilgram, Betty finished high school in Jackson, Michigan in 1941 and graduated from Michigan State in 1945. While at State, Betty joined Delta Zeta and belonged to the sorority throughout her life.
She married Vern Morrison Williams in 1945 in East Lansing with her sorority sisters in attendance. Betty lived in San Diego while Vern fought in WWII. Betty and Vern raised six children and traveled to many assignments in his 35 years of military service, first in the U.S. Navy and then the U.S. Army. They retired first to Hampton and then Williamsburg. Wherever they were, Betty invested much energy and talent into raising and caring for her family.
While Betty’s children were growing up, she was an active leader in the Girl Scouts wherever Vern’s military assignments took them. After moving to the Virginia Peninsula, Betty was a decades-long docent at the Mariners’ Museum and the Peninsula SPCA. Mrs. Williams was also an avid card player, bowler and talented seamstress, quilter and embroiderer. She and Col. Williams loved traveling and camping across the country in their RV.
Betty’s siblings, Durell Fenwick and Jeanne Townley preceded her in death.
Left to mourn her are her husband, Vern and their children, Christine Williams Selders, Jan Williams Nesbitt, Heather Williams Livingston, Vern Williams III, Jon Fenwick Williams and Georgia Lynn Williams Killough. There are also 12 grandchildren and an ever-increasing number of great-grandchildren.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be sent to the Peninsula SPCA, or one’s favorite charity.
Please leave online condolences for the family at Nelsen Funeral Home.
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