Lamar Harper Williams

Lamar Williams passed away and into the arms of our Lord on Friday, October 3, 2014, at the Mayflower Retirement Home, Winter Park, Florida. She is predeceased by her parents Philip S Harper Sr., and Carolyn Lamar Harper, her brother Philip S Harper, Jr, and her husband of 54 years, Richard R "Dick" Williams. Lamar was born in Chicago, Illinois on August 12, 1927. She attended Monticello College In Illinois and subsequently moved to Ithaca, New York. Though she never moved back to Chicago, she would often tell her close friend, Sissy Cooper that she was a "Chicago Girl" at heart. The mid 1950s found Lamar in Orlando with 2 little girls in tow from a previous marriage. She went on to attend Rollins College and graduated in 1956, but not before she met and later married the love of her life, Richard "Dick" Williams. She found in Dick a man of strong character, with a deep faith in The Lord which she shared, and a man who would love her children and raise them as if they were his own. She would tell her family in later years that her husband fell in love with her two little girls so he had to marry her!! Yet, the new family was not complete until two little boys were born. Despite her petite frame and classic good looks, friends and family could always count on Lamar to "tell it like it is"! She was famous for her "one-liners" that could liven up even the most staid occasion. Those who knew her would certainly agree she was a very determined woman and at times a "force to be reckoned with"! Lamar always put her family first. She was a 24/7 accessible Mom even as her children married and had children of their own. Her daughter Gray remembers " my Mom never told me she was too busy to talk with me or help me when I needed her." In fact, Lamar decided to give up a successful real estate career in the 1980s because she was away too often on the weekends, missed dinner with her husband, and worried she would be left out of her family's activities. Though family was first for Lamar she carved out time for civic, philanthropic and volunteer activities. She continually demonstrated her commitment to women's roles In the community with her active service. In the 1960s, while living in Winter Park, she was a JayCee wife and a member of the women's auxiliary at Winter Park Hospital. She was an active Kappa Kappa Gamma alumnus throughout her life and established a scholarship for female athletes at Rollins College. She joined the Junior League and was a member well into her 80s. Through the Junior League she helped to staff The Bargain Box, (a resale thrift shop,) and worked as a volunteer at the Eatonville Day Nursery. When her family moved to Longwood in 1966, she focused her efforts on maintaining the quality of life in the Markham Woods Road Corridor and became active in its Homeowners Association. From 2006-2012 she served as Board President of the Philip S Harper Foundation, founded by the father she adored, to foster philanthropy down through the family's generations. With her husband, Dick, she became an active member of the First Presbyterian Church of Maitland for over 40 years, and later in her life she became a Stephen Minister. Lamar is survived by her daughters Gray Wrisley Gillio and Kerry Lamar Wrisley of Longwood; Sons Richard Gregory "Greg " Williams of Lake Mary, and Kirk Harper Williams (JoEllen) of Sanford. Grandchildren, Steven Palumbo (Aimee) of Lake Mary; Katie Palumbo Ramsey (Jason) of Longwood; Sarah Gillio Courech (Ryan) of Winter Park; Richard Bradley Williams, Cole Gregory Williams and Jenny Nicole Williams of Lake Mary. Great-grandchildren, Kayla, Jocelyn and Lily Ramsey. She is also survived by her sister-in-law, Colene Williams and many nieces, nephews, and cousins who were dear to her.