Ethel Vaughan Williams

Ethel was born in Johnson City, Tennessee, the daughter of John Wesley and Nanny Graham Vaughan. She spent her young life on the family farm outside of Fries, Virginia. She attended school in Fries, where she was Salutatorian of her high school class (she would be quick to point out that there were only 13 students in her class). After high school, she attended a two year business school in Roanoke, Virginia.

Her family was the center of her life. She was a loving mother, grandmother, great grandmother, wife, daughter, sister, aunt, great aunt and dear friend to so many. She was married in 1939 to James Thomas Williams, who died in 1985. She is survived by son James T. Williams Jr. and his wife Barbara of Greensboro; son John Vaughan Williams and his wife Jean of Savannah, Georgia; granddaughter Anne Bryan Williams Trent and her husband Chris of Greensboro; granddaughter Patricia Vaughan Williams Goodson and her husband Bart of Raleigh; grandson Wesley Vaughan Williams and his wife Rachael of Boston; granddaughter Frances Huntley Williams Crawford and her husband Sean of Queenstown, Md; great granddaughters Elizabeth Bryan Trent, Callie Elizabeth Williams Crawford, Zoe Elena Williams Crawford, Mary Scott Goodson, Lilly Vaughan Goodson, and Eleanor Hannah Williams; great grandsons Holden McArthur Trent and Thomas Howell Trent; niece and dear friend Carlene Vaughan Gregory of Greensboro; nephew John Clifford Vaughan of Annapolis, Maryland; and a host of great and great great nieces and nephews.

Ethel raised her family in Durham, North Carolina. Ocracoke Island was also a special place for her family. In 1968 she and her husband moved to Key Biscayne, Florida where they lived until 1979, when they returned to Durham. For the past eighteen years Ethel has been a resident of Friends Home West in Greensboro.

Ethel was a member of Duke Memorial Methodist Church in Durham and West Market Street United Methodist Church in Greensboro.

Everywhere Ethel lived she developed enduring friendships. It is fair to say that she cared more about her family and friends than she did herself. The family thanks the staff at Friends West and Hospice for their skilled and loving care. Also, we thank Julia Riddle, her personal trainer, with whom she had a special friendship.

A memorial service will be held at West Market Street United Methodist Church on October 13, 2012, at 2:30 pm. The family will receive friends in the gathering space after the service. A private family burial will be held in Winston-Salem. Memorials may be made to Friends Home West, (6100 West Friendly Ave., Greensboro, N.C. 27410), Hospice & Palliative Care of Greensboro (2500, Summit Ave., Greensboro, NC, 27405) or the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation (PO Box 1245, Albert Lea, Mn, 56007-9981).