Funeral services for Maggie Jacobs Williams, 90, of Tampa, FL will be at 11:00 a.m., Saturday, March 31 at Boone Funeral Home, Greenville. She passed away March 22, 2018 in Tampa, Florida. Burial will be in Leland-Stoneville Cemetery under the direction of Boone Funeral Home, Greenville.
She was born on Oct. 5, 1927 in Rison, Arkansas. In 1934 her family loaded their wagon and crossed the Mississippi River by ferry from Helena, Arkansas. They settled on a plantation in Bolivar, Mississippi. She was unable to attend school past the 8th grade in order to work in the cotton fields.
While working the fields, she met her future husband Jesse Leon Williams. They met through her sister Arthusa who was selling candy bars and asked Jesse to buy one. He responded, “No, but if you send your pretty sister over here with them, I’ll buy two.” They married in 1942 and moved to Greenville, Miss. in 1949. They had three sons: Jesse, David and the late James “Bubbee” Williams. Later came seven grandchildren, 14 great grandchildren, and three great great grandchildren.
She worked at Greenville Mills carpet factory for more than 30 years. Reading and quilting were her passions. When she was in her 70s, while visiting her son in Tampa, she would drive across Tampa to attend quilting classes. She loved bright vivid colors and would break the rules with her choice of colors and wild patterns – even glow in the dark fabrics. She always had a passion for reading, usually reading three books a week on any subject from Amish love stories to John Grisham thrillers to Janet Evanovich mysteries. But the one book that she read over and over was the Holy Bible. Her Faith was paramount and fundamental to how she lived her life. Maggie Williams didn’t preach. She didn’t judge. She simply lived her life by the golden rule – treat others the way you would want them to treat you.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Jesse Leon Williams, son James Edwin Williams, sisters Arthusa Shaw and Vera Williams, and brothers Herschel Jacobs, John Jacobs, James Jacobs and J.D. Jacobs, and granddaughter Mary Anne Barnes. She is survived by her sisters Charlene Godwin and Sue Tanksley, brother Brown Jacobs, sons Jesse Edward Williams (Cynthia Williams) and David Henry Williams (Janet Harvey Williams), grandchildren Lisa Williams Cornett, John Scott Williams, Jimi Williams Mingee, Tina Williams Nixon and Jesse Lee Williams, 14 great grandchildren which include Rebekah Collins Kraeuter, Jed Collins, Warren H. Young, Danny Young, Mallaree Niner, Haley Melissa Robinson and Bailey Rose Williams, great great grandchildren Makenna, Olivia and Riley Collins, and her dear neighbor Monica Williams, and many more relatives and friends. She will be deeply missed by many.
There will be a visitation one hour prior to services at the funeral home. In lieu of flowers, please consider a memorial donation in her name to H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center, Tampa, Fla.