Archie Williams' Obituary
Archie Darrell Williams was born on October 23, 1937 and died on Monday July 6, 2020 at the age of 87 at Good Shepherd Hospital. He was born in Marshall, but Beckville was his home. He was a graduate of Beckville High School and always worked after school. He swept floors at the local post office and worked at Parker General Store after school and on Saturdays for 25 cents a day.
He graduated from Panola Jr College with a degree in Business before joining the Navy. He enjoyed being stationed in Hawaii for 4 years. When he left the Navy, he attended the University of Texas in Austin and graduated Magna Cumme Laude with a degree in Electrical Engineering. After graduation, he went to work for Texas Eastman in the electrical department. He was the superintendent of Power Distributions and Control Systems when he retired after 30 years.
While at Eastman, he met Barbara, who was manager of the cafeteria. She was very impressed when he took her dancing on their first date. They got married after a whirlwind courtship. Through the years, Barbara loved to tell that she married Archie because he was tall, a good dancer, drove a snazzy convertible, and she thought he had money. Archie would smile and say “I hid the money.”
For a birthday gift, Barbara and Archie enrolled in ballroom dancing lessons, taught by local Alicia Cantrele. After much practice, they exceled at ballroom dancing, spent lots of time on the dance floor, and enjoyed several private ballroom dance cruises. If there was a dance floor, they would be on it.
After retirement, he loved doing odd jobs for friends, caring for the yard, and spent many hours doing electrical work for Winterfield Methodist Church, where they are long-time members. As he got older, Barbara insisted that he not climb up on the steeple to replace lights. They also loved to travel, and cruise, and spend time at their lake house on Lake Cherokee.
In later years, Archie battled several health issues. Special thanks to Dr Kavita Nirmal and caregivers at Texas Oncology, to special friends, and to staff and friends at Buckner Westminster Place for their care and concern.
He is survived by his loving wife of 53 years Barbara; siblings Jack Williams, Mary Elliott and Fran McGlinn; son Scott Williams and his wife Sharon; and grandkids Charlotte and Archie (Gus) Williams.
Due to the covid-19 pandemic, there will be a small private gathering for family only. Memorial contributions may be made to United Methodist Church 2616 Tryon Rd, Longview, TX 75605 or Texas Oncology Cancer Center 1300 4th St, Longview, TX 75601.
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