Lola Sue Williams

Her father was a farmer and an elder in their church, while her mother gardened, kept house, and raised three children. She canned vegetables and fruits, made clothes from flour sacks, cooked delicious and nutritious meals, made quilts, taught Sunday school, and was generous and hospitable. Myrtle was just 17 when Lola was born, and didn't get to finish high school, but she encouraged all of her children to always do their best. They all learned to hoe, pick cotton, and kill and pluck a chicken for dinner.

When Lola was 10 years old, she got pneumonia. This was a deadly disease that had taken her mother’s sister at that same age, so both her mother and grandmother were desperate. The doctor told them that there was a new drug available, penicillin, which they chose to try. This saved Lola’s life, and gave her a lifelong confidence in the work of scientists.

Her father started a yearly family reunion with his eight siblings and their families. That reunion was faithfully attended and continued until the present. There is always food, lots and lots of hymn-singing, prayers, and catching up on each others’ lives.

Lola advanced in her education, even skipping a grade, graduating from high school and starting college when she was just 16.

By the time she graduated from Abilene Christian College with a teaching degree in May of 1955, she was married and pregnant with her first child, Rosalinda. The family moved to Searcy, Arkansas, where her husband taught Spanish at Harding College, while Lola had two more children, Robert and Jennifer.

The family moved to Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1960. They worked as missionaries there for five years. Lola didn't know any Spanish, but learned it with the help of new friends and a little English-Spanish dictionary. She learned to do the shopping and cooking, washing clothes by hand, and teaching Sunday school in Spanish.

She put her three children into an Argentine school, but managed to teach them to read in English.

In 1966, the family moved to the Rio Grande Valley, where Lola returned to public school teaching and became convinced that children who spoke only Spanish should learn to read first in their native tongue. She taught in a bilingual school and was amazed that by the end of the first year (a short year, because migrant children came late and left early), all of the students were reading in both languages.

Lola worked, raised kids, was involved at church, and took night classes and summer school to get her Master's degree. Her husband left them, but she supported her children as they finished their education, and she completed her doctorate.

During the years after her husband left, she had an operation. Alone in the hospital, she decided to name all of her blessings, and she said she never got to the end of them. That habit continued all of her life.

After five years of solitude, friends from church introduced her to a wonderful man who lived in another town. They dated, and right after Rosalinda’s wedding, he proposed. Lola married F.D. Williams in October of 1981. From that moment on, Lola always claimed all five of their children: Darlene, Rosalinda, Robert, Jennifer, and DeeAnne.

In Lola's career she taught children, and later trained teachers, and eventually became the administrator in charge of the bilingual education program in Harlingen, Texas. She was active in the Lion’s Club and Zonta women’s club.

She was surprised when she was asked if she would be interested in moving to Botswana, Africa, to teach the missionary children (including three of her grandchildren). To her delight, FD was excited about the prospect. So they both retired, sold their house and possessions, and moved to Shakawe, Botswana, Africa, on the banks of the Okavango River. Lola ran a one-room schoolhouse for two years.

Through the Zonta club, she helped two young women from Shakawe Village to continue their education in the high school that was in the district capital (a day’s drive away).

When FD’s mother was declining, they moved back to Texas to be close to her and their other children and grandchildren. They bought a two-acre plot near Bertram, Texas, so that they could enjoy country living.

But Lola was never idle. She taught Sunday school at Liberty Hill Church of Christ, tutored grandchildren (even homeschooled one year), cooked church and family dinners, distributed holiday meals to the needy, made sure there were new flower arrangements at church every month, took communion to the nursing home, and taught a Ladies’ Bible study for many years.

She never forgot the struggles she faced when the family moved to Argentina, so she also poured her heart into teaching new immigrants how to speak English, teaching ESL classes first at school (paid), and then at church (for free) when the government program was cut.

And she became a steady long-term substitute teacher in the local school well into her 80’s. She said she enjoyed every day of teaching, except for the year she taught eighth-graders!

Lola set about making a quilt for each of her grandchildren, and a baby quilt for each of her great-grandchildren, as well as for friends and special babies she claimed as her own.

Lola and FD planted trees and watched them grow tall. She planted so many native flowers in the yard that she was told she might be able to register it as a wildlife area.

And of course she was a big part of her family’s life. She always honored her children’s spouses, and considered them her own children: Eddie Kirk, Wimon Walker, Lauren Tipton, Gene Pollastro, and Kevin McCrary. Their children, spouses, and Lola’s grandchildren were adored by her:

Lamar & Jennifer Kirk with their children, Landrie, Karsyn, and Ryan

David Kirk

Martin & Tsunami Walker, and Leo

John & Brittany Kirk, and Hank

Marcella & Ben Clinard, and Simon and Lila

Emily Pollastro

Dominick & Caitlin Pollastro, and Danielle and Dominic

Marissa Walker & Andrew Greenberg

Chris Pollastro

Daniel Pollastro

Kristen & Alex Rollins, and Riley

Eliana Tipton

Jefferson Tipton

In her 70’s, she was diagnosed with breast cancer, and went through surgery and chemotherapy. She took the opportunity to try out different hairstyles and colors with her new wigs.

FD had significant health problems in his last years, and Lola became his dedicated nurse. When he passed away, Lola stayed in her beautiful home, right through the COVID years.

After losing the love of her life, Lola lost her precious daughter Darlene in 2019.

But eventually, the upkeep at her country home was too much for her, and since she absolutely refused to go live with any of her children, her family convinced her to move to Denton, Texas, to an Active Senior Living complex.

Her first year there, the family was shocked by the sudden passing of her only son, Robert. But grief did not defeat her. Lola plugged into a new church and a Bible study at the complex. She made new friends and touched new lives.

Lola was healthy and active past her 91st birthday. She enjoyed the family and friends who came to her birthday parties and to the yearly family reunions. The prayers and support of her Bible study and church friends were a huge blessing. She never stopped being a student of God’s word, growing daily to be more like her Lord Jesus. Her doors were always open; she was always delighted to have visitors, and she had many!

In April of 2026, a heart issue sent her to the ICU for a while, and Denton Rehab for two months, where she celebrated her 92nd birthday. She was able to live at home with the help of Concho Hearts Hospice, Heaven at Home caregivers, and family helpers until her passing gently into eternity on September 22.

“Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.. They will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them.”

Revelation 14:13