Doris Williams

Doris Ellen Dunn Williams passed away Monday, October 7th, 2013 after a three year fight with breast cancer.  She was born March 29, 1929 on her parent’s farm just outside of Four Oaks, NC.  Thanks to her parents, Murphy Green Dunn and Rosey Massengill Dunn, she had a wonderful childhood and in later years, enjoyed reminiscing about it with her sister and many cousins. Doris was educated at Four Oaks School where she graduated both class valedictorian and salutatorian. Upon her high school graduation she attended and graduated from Hardbarger Business College in Raleigh, N.C.  Her work career spanned 35 years with the state of North Carolina at the Wildlife Resources Commission until her retirement in 1992.  Taught by her parents the value of hard work, faith in God, conservation and self-reliance, she taught her children the same and was a model for all who knew her.  Through her education she developed a lifelong love of reading and the correct usage of the English language.  Doris was a strong proponent of traditional education and a believer in the power it holds to transform a determined individual.  She loved history, both local and family, antiques of all kinds, refinishing furniture, doing needle point and her family farm.  Doris was an astute, successful business woman with a compassionate heart.  She enjoyed helping others when she could and did so regularly in the performance of her business responsibilities.  In retirement, she volunteered her time with service to several citizen committees for the town of Four Oaks.  Although she was very active, in her words a “doer,” her children and her grandchildren were always at the center of her life.  She was a wonderful mother, grandmother, friend, confidante, and advisor to her children, grandchildren, family, and friends.  She was preceded in death by her husband, Howard A. Williams, her brother, Coleman Dunn, and her sister, Eunice Lee.  She is survived by her son, Sherwood Williams and wife Betsy of Four Oaks, son Mark Williams of Apex, and her grandchildren Briana and Murphy Williams of Four Oaks and Cooper and Sloan Williams of Apex. The family would like to express their gratitude to Hospice of Wake County, specifically Holly Hans and Jenny Jones for their care and guidance, as well as the caring nurses and staff at the SECU Hospice House in Smithfield.     A celebration of life and visitation will be held Sunday, October 13 at 2:00 p.m. at Rose and Graham Funeral Home in Four Oaks, NC.  In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the Johnston Community College Foundation Doris Dunn Williams Endowment Fund.