Francis George Williamson

Francis George “Gunny” “Dick” Williamson left this Earthly world, earned his wings and joined our mother in heaven on December 4, 2017. He was known and loved by many. Even those who only met him once or twice knew that he was an extraordinary man with an impeccable and righteous soul. As a husband, he was loving, caring and always made sure Mom had everything she needed. As a father, his sons were never told to be like him, they just knew that they wanted to and should strive to be like him. As a friend, Gunny was loyal and always chose to speak of the good in a person rather than point out one’s flaws. As a Marine, he was gung-ho until the end, proud of his service and loved being around those who served.

Dad was born in Akron, Ohio on September 30, 1922 to Grover and Lela Williamson and spent his formative years in Louisiana and Ohio. He enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in November of 1940. During his 21 years as a Marine, much of which was spent in the air, he was a photographer and documented many historic events including nuclear weapons testing in the Nevada Desert and the sculpting of the WWII Marine Corps Memorial. During the war he served in many locations like the Solomon Islands, Bougainville, Guadalcanal, Tarawa and Iwo Jima to name a few. His work during the war was used for intelligence, historical recordings and news use. While on recruiting duty in Houston in November of 1959, he met and had coffee with a beautiful young lady, 16 years his junior, our mother, Yvonne Renee Bryant. The next week, the two attended the Marine Corps Ball and were engaged less than a month later. He and Yvonne married on March 5, 1960. Between January of 1961 and October of 1965 they became parents to 3 boys. The coffee shop date lead to 57 years of marriage.

Although Dad never boasted of being an athlete or sports minded person, he always found time to coach his son’s baseball teams. Every little league ball team he coached, the Wrens, Owls, Sports and Tigers was a winner or won it all. He did this all the while making sure those kids who were never going to play ball beyond little league got plenty of playing time and did not ride the bench. That’s just the way he did things throughout his life, thoughtfully and fair. If he was not coaching you would find him and mom in the stands cheering for their sons in whatever sport they were competing in.

After retiring from the Marine Corps as a Gunnery Sergeant in December of 1963, Dad went to work for NASA, mainly as an aerial photographer with the Earth Resources division. Dad was with Nasa beginning with the fledgling Mercury program, and then lugging photography equipment onto recovery operations following Gemini and Apollo missions 10, 11, 12, 13 and 15 with his career winding down during the Space Shuttle era. After retiring from NASA, he was offered the opportunity to work for Lockheed Martin to assist in the investigation of the Space Shuttle Columbia accident. After his second retirement, Dad always made sure the OGGT (Old Geezers Get Together) was planned and executed for his NASA buddies. He was a graduate of the Class 1 of the League City Citizens Police Academy. After graduating, he was very active in the academies’ alumni association, so much so that in April of 2004, at the age of 81, Dad traveled to Austin for the National CPA Conference and was awarded the National Citizens’ Police Academy Associations’ Alumnus of the Year award. Throughout the decade, Gunny was a mainstay at the police department, taking part in all events where CPA alumni were needed. In August of 2014, League City, City Council declared August 12, Gunny Williamson Day in League City.

He is survived by sons: Bryant Williamson (Vickie) of Kingwood TX., Ross Williamson (Lori) of Pearland TX., Kelly Williamson (Tiffany) of League City. Eight grandchildren, Danny Williamson (Danarae) of Kinston, N.C., Erin Williamson Foster (Jared) of Atlanta, GA., Gregory Williamson of Kingwood, Carson Williamson of Kingwood, Austin Williamson (Victoria) of Pensacola, FL., Dillon Williamson of Orlando, FL., Gunner Williamson of League City, and Tucker Williamson of League City. Four great grandchildren Lennox, McKenzi, Adelaide and Sydney.

Visitation 10AM-11AM and Services 11AM-Noon will be held on Tuesday December 12, at Heritage Park Baptist Church: 2732 FM 528 Rd, Webster, TX 77598.

Graveside services will be held immediately following at Forest Park East Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers the family suggests that a donation be made in his memory to the Marine Corps Toys for Tots program or another charity of your choosing.