Funeral services were held for Louise Arrington Williams, longtime Grambling resident, Tuesday at the New Rocky Valley Baptist Church. Mrs. Williams was remembered mostly for her kindness. “She will be wearing animal print, high heel boots, fur and a hat – crooked – and wearing Mary Kay (cosmetics). She loved Mary Kay.”
That was the gist of the text message Minnie Langer sent to Louise Arrington Williams’ daughter, Lynda Franklin, within the hour Mrs. Williams made her final journey.
“Louise was very kind, proper, the epitome of a lady,” said Langer, who worked with her at Grambling State University.
Langer could hear her own mother when Mrs. Williams talked about being a lady.
Langer said she especially observed her charm and soft-spoken demeanor in one of Mrs. Williams’ many jobs at GSU – liaison officer, helping students with financial aid.
“If it was a student with a problem, she went everywhere on that campus and talked to whomever she needed to talk to,” said Delores Smith, then GSU vice president for finance.
“She treated those students as if they were her own.”
“Family was important to her,” Smith said.
“I watched Louise with Bob (her late husband) when he was sick. She went home every day at noon to fix his food.
“He was a diabetic. She was strict. She made sure he stuck to his diet. If he could not have but five peanuts, he had five peanuts.”
This attitude extended to her neighbors on Richmond Street in Grambling and throughout the community.
“She was one of those neighbors like back in the day where you would go to her house you could borrow a cup of sugar,” neighbor Marilyn Ferguson said.
Ferguson said Mrs. Williams and she would trade notes about many things, including Christmas decorations and planting flowers.
Members of her family said it best:
Aaron Wright, 18, great grandson said, “She was a good person and she connected with the entire family.
” We talked to her and told her about things that were happening in our lives and she wanted to be a part of it.”
Amaya Wright, eight, great granddaughter said, “She smiled every time she saw us. She was nice. She would cook my favorite foods. She was special to me.”
Anna Wright, nine, great granddaughter said, “Wearing her hats, my mom and me. We would wear them at her house with her (Mrs. Williams) watching us, because we liked her hats.
“They were kind of fancy. And we liked to play dress-up.”
Willie Wright, 11, great grandson said, “When she took me fishing, it was fun and exciting. I will miss her taking me fishing and her cooking on Sunday morning and us coming together to eat.”
Stephanie Franklin, grand daughter said, she always carried herself with dignity no matter what the situation. .
Annetta Franklin, grand daughter said, she taught me to always go to God.
“God has a plan for your life no matter how what everybody else wants to input. The other thing was forgiveness. She was really big on forgiveness.”
Derrick (13) and Malcolm (7) Wright, great grandsons. They liked the fact that she always had their favorite dishes and snacks waiting for them when they came to visit.
Joseph Arrington, brother to Louise, said ” I thank God for giving me a loving and caring sister for 78 years.”
“I remember she called herself the cool one.
“I also recall when we were growing up, all her chores were inside the house and mine were outside,” said Arrington.
Mrs. Williams was born on May 22, 1932 to Arlene and Johnny Arrington of Grambling.
She completed her early education in the Lincoln Parish school system and received her bachelor’s degree from Grambling in 1956 in secondary education and business education.
She was a lifetime member of the Grambling State University National Alumni Association.
She later met and married her soul mate, the late Robert E. Williams, longtime choir director at Grambling State.
She and her husband were personal friends of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King during much of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s.
For an interesting chapter in the life of Louise Williams go to http://www.capitalcityhues.com/022108BobWilliams.html.
Mrs. Williams championed education in her 42 years of service to Grambling State until her retirement in 2001 from being an instructor at the GSU laboratory school.
She touched many lives through her dedication and commitment to her family, demonstrated by rearing her granddaughters, Annetta Wright and Stephanie Franklin.