Esther Bishop Williams, 77, of Fitzgerald, Georgia, died Saturday, August 13, 2011 at the Tift Regional Medical Center in Tifton, Georgia.
Funeral services will be held at 2:00 P.M., Tuesday, August 16, 2011, in the Pine Level United Methodist Church with the Rev. Annette Brooks and the Rev. Dr. Keithen Tucker officiating. Interment will follow in the Pine Level Cemetery. The family will receive friends from 7-9 Monday evening at the funeral home.
Mrs. Williams was born August 26, 1933 in Ben Hill County, Georgia to the late John David Bishop, Sr. and Effie Middlebrooks Bishop. She was a 1950 graduate of Fitzgerald High School and a graduate of South Georgia College. She was a member of the women’s basketball team during high school. She worked in the law offices of Jay and Garden and later became a homemaker and bookkeeper for the family farm. She was a former member of Central United Methodist Church and an active member of Pine Level United Methodist Church. She taught Sunday school and served on many committees at both churches, including being active in the United Methodist Women. An avid gardener, she was a long-time member of the Cherokee Garden Club where she received many blue ribbons and won several tri-color awards.
She is survived by her children and their spouses: Steven W. Williams of Ocilla, E. Scott & Karen Williams of Fitzgerald, Cheri W. Stone of Fitzgerald, and Lisa W. & Louis Herrera of Roswell; grandchildren: Emily Williams (Jacob) Nolan, Zack Stone, Jake Williams, Elizabeth Stone, Anna Williams, Amelia Herrera, and Julia Herrera; brothers: Quentin Bishop and Howard Bishop, all of Fitzgerald; sister: Julia B. “Jube” Tucker of Albany; as well as several nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her husband: Royce Curtis Williams; brothers: J.D. Bishop, Jr., T.N. “Dosh” Bishop, and Dennis Bishop; sister: Marguerite Young; and a son-in-law: Max Lamar Stone, Jr.