M.J. Williams

M. J. Williams was born at home in the Lakeview community in Lynn County to Salah and Ellie Lou Nettles Williams. After graduation from Texas Tech in 1938, he moved to Shallowater and began a five-year career teaching vocational agriculture.

He married Helen Allen on June 28, 1939 and they began farming in 1940 in Shallowater. He was a devoted family man and worked hard to provide for them. He and Helen went to all their children’s activities and taught them Christian love and service, as well as how to save and manage money.

During his farming years, M. J. loved to play dominoes at the Shallowater domino hall and go fishing on the Rio Grande River. He loved flying and he and Helen flew in their Beechcraft Bonanza to visit children and grandchildren.

After he retired from farming, he found his gift for public service, serving on many local and regional boards of directors.

He got involved in several farming associations and delighted in going to their conventions. Shallowater Co-op Gin board, National Cotton Council, Cotton Incorporated board, Plains Cooperative Oil Mill Board, Texas Farm Credit Board, Texas Bank of Cooperatives, and Soy-Cot Co-op National Board were included in his activities. His tenure as vice-president, then president of Plains Cooperative Oil Mill Board from 1965 to 1980 was his longest lasting service.

M.J. served 8 years on the board of Lubbock Methodist Hospital from 1981 to 1988 and later served on the board of Levelland Covenant Hospital.

M. J. was a lifelong Methodist, and a member of United Methodist Church of Shallowater for 73 years. He served on and chaired numerous committees through the years, including Chairman of the Building Committee when the new church was built. He was a longtime teacher of the Builders Sunday School class and was honored by the Lubbock District as “Outstanding Laity in the United Methodist Church” in 2004.

In his local community, M. J. was an organizer of the Shallowater Senior Citizens Center. He served on the Shallowater school board, was a member of Shallowater Masonic Lodge #1279, and was a patron of Eastern Star chapter #76. He had served on the city council of Shallowater and had served as mayor. He was first president of the Shallowater Chamber of Commerce and worked toward securing the Shallowater Clinic. He was a longtime director of the First State Bank of Shallowater.

In their early retirement years, M. J. and Helen loved international travel and visited over 30 countries. Later they traveled over much of the United States in their motor home. They especially enjoyed visiting Colorado where Juanette and Kent have a mountain cabin, and the Ozarks in Missouri where Wenzel and Jan have a lake house.