The Reverend Doctor Bruce McKennie Williams

Chaplain (LTC), Retired, US Army

Beloved Husband, Father and Grandfather

Born May 28, 1930 in Pittsfield, MA - Died April 16, 2021 in San Antonio, TX

Bruce McKennie Williams, Retired Army Chaplain, died Friday April 16, 2021, at the Enclave Transitional Rehabilitation Center in San Antonio, Texas. He is survived by his wife of 65 years, Charlotte Lee Williams, and by his daughter, Carol Williams Copeland, who lives in the area with her husband, Leonard. Grandchildren Melissa and Spencer Copeland, with his wife Shealynn Vogan Copeland, reside in San Marcos and Austin, Texas.

The family is grateful for the support of River City Hospice Agency during the last year of his amazing life. Prior to relocating to San Antonio, the couple lived in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where Father Bruce was Canon Pastor at the Cathedral of St. John. Previously he had been Rector of St. Philip’s Episcopal Church in Brooklyn, New York for 8 years, where they retired after Bruce’s career in the US Army Chaplain Corps. Earlier, he had served as an enlisted man and Chaplain’s assistant from 1953 - 1955. He married Charlotte Ellen Lee in 1955, graduated from the Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore, Maryland, and entered seminary in New York in 1957. Bruce was ordained an Episcopal priest at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City in 1960, where he served on staff for two years, and subsequently was commissioned an officer in 1962. During those years the couple’s two children, Donald (now deceased) and Carol were born, and the family later relocated extensively to numerous military assignments. Chaplain Williams served in both Korea and Viet Nam, and was the post Chaplain at West Point, New York, ministering to the community of the US Military Academy. While assigned in Germany, he was the only Army Episcopal priest in country for an extended time, and traveled many miles each week to celebrate services in various post chapels, serving military families. He retired from the Army in 1980 with many decorations and awards, including the Bronze Star.

While in Albuquerque, he served as the Chaplain for the American Guild of Organists, and remained active in the Organ Historical Society, the Theater Organ Society, and the Association of Anglican Musicians. Father Williams devoted his ministry to those struggling with addictions, and to those who suffered illness and the death of a loved one. He earned his doctorate in 1983 following a dissertation on the Pastoral Care of Drug Addicts, and served on special committees and commissions for the Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of the Rio Grande. He was a beloved chaplain to numerous nursing homes and hospitals, and celebrated services in many churches, as far away as the Kingdom of Bahrain, offering other clergy much needed time-off. Ever a scholar of church architecture and organ design, Father Bruce traveled with Charlotte around the world, enjoying trips to historical landmarks in Europe, South Asia, Egypt, Russia, and many more exotic locations. In 1993 their lives changed when Father Bruce suffered a near-fatal vehicle accident; they moved to San Antonio in 2013 and enjoyed his last years with family.

The livestreaming of the service can be viewed bellow:

https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.youtube.com_stpaulssatx&d=DwIFaQ&c=euGZstcaTDllvimEN8b7jXrwqOf-v5A_CdpgnVfiiMM&r=CQgn29jchNovAICmr7jttNBdnHUvI7tEtQF4-maOMNU&m=b_OS9PlNKznCH62imao_sXqrk6j_kRyZ48432XZYQX8&s=W7Jq23LVY5G5Tic31tveh6uA0ci-Sk8hLaXsA0nMkLU&e=