Our Mother Geraldine Marie Williams was called to the lord on the 22nd of October 2020, in Stonington, Connecticut. She was born in Groton, Connecticut to George and Lillian Hunt on the 29th of December 1921. She was the youngest of three siblings with her brother George and sister Nadine being older. Unfortunately, her mother Lillian died when she was three and she went to live with her grandfather Henry Chesbro and his daughter Elise. After her grandfather passed away she and her aunt traveled to North Carolina where her aunt taught Christian school. After they return to Connecticut, her aunt married Austin Wolf. Then fate struck again, when her aunt died when she was thirteen. At that point, she had finished the 8th grade, and as many people did in those days, she went to work as a maid for a lady in Jewett City.
When she was 17, she met our father Allen S. Williams at a Grange dance. After going together for about a year, they eloped and were married on July 30, 1939 in Atho, Massachusetts. At the time dad worked with his grandfather, as a carpenter building houses.
When World War II started, housing construction stopped, and dad went to work for Hamilton Standard finishing Aircraft propellers. When the war ended, dad was laid off and since jobs were tough to find, and with a family to support, he joined the National Guard.
When the Korean war started, the Guard was nationalized and dad was sent to Camp Steward, Georgia to qualify on 90mm Anti-Aircraft Artillery is preparation for his assignment to Japan. After qualification, he departed for Japan in 1951 while mom and the children stayed in Groton, Connecticut. Dad was stationed at Itizuke Air Force Base, Japan and after a year, the family was able to join him. It was an exciting experience for mom and the children to travel by train all the way to California and then fly to Japan. Life in Japan was really good for Mom since like many Army wives she could afford a full time Japanese maid to help out. It was a good thing too, since dad had to go TDY to Korea a lot of the time to train the troops.
With the return to the states, she went to work first at Duram Enders packaging razor blades, then at Railroad Salvage, and finally Arwoods. At Arwoods, she was naturally given the low level jobs reserved for new hires. She did demanding piece work grinding all day removing flashing from aircraft and human body joint castings, which caused severe pain in her hands due to the repetitive task. Fortunately, things got better after two years when she was assigned to the X-Ray unit checking the finished castings. She worked a total of 10 years at Arwoods and retired in 1984, but because her time was not continuous she received no retirement pay.
Following dad’s retirement, they enjoyed some travel, until dad’s death in 1994. With dad’s passing , mom lived by herself until 2001 when her daughter Georgia and husband Johnny came from New Hampshire and moved in with her. She also enjoyed some traveling with Georgia, visiting grandchildren and great grandchildren. Her last trip was to El Paso and Lubbock, Texas to see her great grandchild, Kaylee Stockton, get married. She had a marvelous time and said “what a wonderful family I have.”
As her health declined, she didn’t fight the aging process, she accepted it gracefully. But there was one thing she did fight – and that was while she was in rehab following her second operation for a perforated intestine, the rehab people wanted her to do exercises, and she didn’t think at 97 years old she should have to do “sports.”
Mom’s fight is now over, she is free from sickness and the shackles of earthen life. Although, I expect she may have a word with God about why he put her through some pretty difficult times. The family would like to thank all the wonderful people at Masonicare Hospice that supported her in the last days of her life, which allowed her to stay at home until the end.
Mom is survived by her four children: John Williams, Keith (Connie) Williams, Georgia (Johnny) Jenkins, and Larry (Marie) Williams, as well as eight grandchildren, and 12 great grandchildren.
To the Matriarch of the Allen S. and Geraldine H. Williams Clan, may God accept you and keep you in his Kingdom forever.
A Graveside Service will be conducted on Wednesday, October 28, at 11:00am at Elm Grove Cemetery, Mystic.
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