Sue Ann Williams

Sue Ann Williams, 80, died Wednesday October 25, 2017, only a few months after the passing of her husband, C.D. "Bud" Williams. Sue was born in Okmulgee, Oklahoma on September 5, 1937, into a family that ran a laundry and a diner in Beggs, Oklahoma. She grew up eating cheeseburgers, drinking milkshakes, and adoring her older brother, Wayne Phillip Sturdivant. Her father Clarence Sturdivant, a member of the 45th Infantry Division was called into World War II at the age of 33. Between her father's service and her mother Ruby Opal's health, Sue moved frequently during her early life from Beggs, Oklahoma to Watertown, New York to Independence, Kansas and Corpus Christi, Texas. Sue learned a great deal about people from these early experiences and took them with her to the Texas College of Arts and Industries in Kingsville, Texas where she officially studied education, but where she unofficially continued to learn about and be fascinated by people. Sue was a proud and accomplished elementary school teacher in McCook, Nebraska; Cody, Wyoming; and Amarillo, Texas. It was in Amarillo where she met and married Bud and gained two wonderful stepsons, Jack and Wes Williams. After a brief stop in Morgan City, Louisiana where Sue and Bud had a son Andy, they lived abroad in London, England before settling in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma in the mid-70s. Sue truly and finally felt settled in Oklahoma City, where she and Bud would happily stay in the same home for the next four decades. Sue taught at Westminster School and was incredibly active raising Andy. She was a soccer coach, an Olympics of the Mind coach, a Cub Scout leader, a Sunday school teacher, and a director of after-school programs for elementary school students. Even though she had stopped moving, she still loved meeting new people every day, listening to their stories, and passing on what she learned to her students. Sue and Bud drew great strength over the years from their friends and from their church family at the Church of the Servant. In retirement, they worked with Hannah's Promise, Church of the Servant's ministry for families with children with special needs. In honor of the joy Bud and Sue received from the children, Sue's family asks that memorials be contributed to Hannah's Promise. Sue will be remembered in a service at Smith & Kernke Funeral Home in Oklahoma City on Saturday, November 11, 2017, at 3:00 in the afternoon.