Virginia Williams

Virginia Ann Williams, 80, passed away peacefully on August 14, 2018.

Born Virginia Ann Hampton on September 14, 1937, in Shawnee, Oklahoma, she is predeceased by her parents Ethel Maude McClurg Hampton and Matt Wilson Hampton and her brother Matt Wilson Jr. Hampton. She married the love of her life, Jim (James Herbert) Williams on August 25, 1961, and they were inseparable and devoted to each other for almost 57 years.

Virginia is survived by Jim, daughters Jennifer (Jay) Tusten, Ulysses, and Ellen Chindamo, Lawrence, and grandchildren Katarina (Bem) Pelletier, Lara, Mary and Natalie Tusten and Siena Casagrande, Dawson and Sophia Chindamo, and great-granddaughter Ava Pelletier.

Virginia always loved education and attended Oklahoma State University where she received a BS in home economics and elementary education and was a member of the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority. She met Jim at the First Baptist Church where her father was his Sunday School teacher. As was the college tradition at the time, Jim pinned her with his Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity pin following graduation and proposed to her on Mount Scott in Lawton, Oklahoma.

When Virginia and Jim were first married, she taught while Jim was in the Air Force and continued her love for teaching young children in elementary education all of her life. They moved to Lawrence in 1962, where she continued to teach and she and Jim were active in the community, loved the arts and attended many events. Virginia was devoted to her family and she and Jim shared with them their passion for travel all over the United States, Caribbean and Europe. Her very favorite place to visit always remained Paris. She participated in many bridge groups, loved shopping with her girlfriends, cooking from scratch and working in her garden.

She was very brave and fought a long and difficult battle with multiple myeloma and the family is grateful to the many family, friends, and caregivers who helped her for many years. They are especially grateful to Dr. Don Hatton, Dr. Christopher Penn, Dr. Matt Stein, Dr. Jodie Barr, Dr. Lida Osbern, Dr. Shari Quick and the staff of Lawrence Memorial Hospital and Dr. Martha Lacy at the Mayo Clinic for all of their excellent care.

The memorial service will take place on Friday, August 17 at 10:00 am at the First Southern Baptist Church, 4300 West 6th Street, Lawrence. A lunch reception will follow at the church. Contributions can made to the First Southern Baptist Church and be sent in care of the Rumsey-Yost Funeral Home, 601 Indiana Street, Lawrence, Kansas 66044. Online condolences made at rumsey-yost.com