Lucille Gladys Williams

Lucille Gladys Williams, 91, of Killeen, passed away peacefully at Arbor House in Temple, Texas, on January 20, 2017, after a long bout with Alzheimer's. She was born in Bandera, Texas, on August 24, 1925. She will be remembered as a devoted Army wife, a loving mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, a pharmacist, a business owner, and a devout Catholic.

She was the only girl of three children born to Thomas and Mary Laskowski, both of whom were children of Polish immigrants. A child of the great depression, Lucille grew up in Bandera, San Antonio, Corpus Christi and finally Del Rio, where her parents settled. She was the high school class valedictorian at Sacred Heart Academy in Del Rio in 1942. She worked her way through college, graduating from the University of Texas in only 3 years — near the top of her class in the College of Pharmacy — at a time when nearly all pharmacists were men. During WWII, while working in the hospital at Laughlin Field (later Laughlin AFB) in Del Rio, she met Robert C. Williams, Jr., whom she would marry in 1949. In his Army career they lived in Japan, Virginia, California, Germany and several posts in Texas, building her family of seven children along the way. The 1960s were a tough time to raise teenagers, but her sweet yet calm and firm demeanor eventually saw the family through those times.

Before Lucille had children, she worked as a pharmacist in Corpus Christi and in the Army dispensary in Japan. Her husband was then transferred to Killeen Base (now West Fort Hood) in 1958. When the last of her children started school, she worked as a pharmacist at Gibson’s in Temple. But opportunities for female pharmacists were still rare in those days, so after her husband retired from the Army in Killeen, she opened Williams Discount Pharmacy in 1965. Because of her location in town many of her customers were poor and without transportation, so she became the only pharmacy in town that delivered to patients’ homes.

At a time before universal patient records tracked prescriptions from multiple physicians, she quietly made many a call to local doctors to advise them to change the prescription for patients at risk for adverse drug interactions. And in the days before the poison control hotline, over the phone she calmed the nerves of many a panicking mother whose child had drunk a household chemical and walked them through the treatment steps. Her pharmacy became a bit of a landmark in the then small town of Killeen and she became well known and respected in the community.

Lucille and her husband both were very generous in supporting various charities near and far. She truly loved her customers as evidenced by simple acts such as buying, assembling, and delivering food baskets during the holidays to her less fortunate customers, and this was after her long day of working at the pharmacy. There were countless times when elderly customers called her at home, after hours, and on the weekends with the frantic plea that they had run out of "their" little white pills" and could she please come down to the pharmacy and help them. And she did so, each and every time, without hesitation.

As her parents aged, Lucille lovingly cared for them, ironically, nursing her mother through her own Alzheimer’s journey for nearly 20 years. After her husband died in 1992, Lucille closed her pharmacy and worked as a relief pharmacist in the area, and spent more time with the Church and her family. She finally retired from pharmacy work at about age 81.

She was preceded in death by her husband; her parents; and her brothers Gilbert "Sonny" and Eugene “Buddy” Laskowski. Survivors include her children Joe and Tom of Austin, Mary Lynn “Mel” Lane of Georgetown, Betty Ann Palma of Cedar City, Utah, Pat of Lufkin, Teresa of Killeen, and Michael of Fort Sam Houston and their spouses; a sister-in-law Magda Laskowski of Alexandria, VA; seven nieces and nephews; as well as 20 grandchildren and 23 great-grandchildren. She was loved and will be missed by all.

The family would like to extend sincere thanks and appreciation to Arbor House of Temple and Kindred Hospice for their love and care of "Miss Lucille". A special "thank you" is extended to Juanita Gaona for her dedicated commitment and extra special love and attention for Lucille during her last 5 years.

Visitation will be Friday, January 27, 2017 from 5-8 p.m. at Crawford-Bowers Funeral Home in Killeen with Rosary at 7 p.m. The Mass of Christian Burial will be on Saturday, January 28, 2017 at 12:00 noon at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Killeen, with interment at Killeen Memorial Park. Reception will follow at St. Joseph Parish Activity Center.

Memorials may be made in her name to St. Joseph Catholic Church in Killeen at www.stjosephkilleen.org or Alzheimer’s Texas at www.TXAlz.org.