Edwin L. (Boe) Williams

Edwin L. "Boe" Williams, Jr.

Edwin L. "Boe" Williams, Jr. of Valdosta, died Sunday, August 29, 2010 after fighting a long battle with leukemia. Boe was born on June 1, 1937 in Waycross, to the late Edwin L. Williams, Sr., and the late Doris Cason Williams. He was the great-grandson of the late Joseph Benjamin Cason, Sr., and Fredda Harbin Cason of Waycross, and the late George Newton Williams and Bessie Box Williams of Dothan, AL.

Boe spent his most of his childhood in Waycross. During a brief period of time, he and his family lived in Broadhurst, Ga., a little turpentine and saw mill town, just outside of Jesup. One of his favorite past-times was sharing stories about the days he lived in Broadhurst and the many colorful characters he encountered there. In high school, his family moved to Cottondale, FL. Before moving to Cottondale, he had earned his Life Scout Badge with the Boy Scouts of America. One of his only regrets was that he was never able to complete the work needed for his Eagle Scout Badge as Cottondale did not have a BSA chapter.

After high school, he attended Florida State University where he received a B.S. Degree in Business. It was there that he met his wife of 45 years, the late Carolyn Barrientos Williams. Soon after college, he opened his first shoe store in Tallahassee, Fl. In 1964, soon after moving to Valdosta, he and Carolyn opened Country Cobbler Shoe Store in downtown Valdosta. Together, they built a successful enterprise with additional stores in Waycross, Gainesville, FL, and Jacksonville, FL.

In addition to his business, he was a regionally respected genealogist. He founded and served as Chairman of the Board for the Huxford Genealogical Society in Homerville, GA. He contributed to numerous genealogical articles, periodicals and the Huxford Society's series, The Pioneers of Wiregrass Georgia. He also served as the Williams Family Historian. He was instrumental in preserving the historic Williams Family Reunion, one of the largest reunions in the country, which was first held in 1903 in Graceville, FL. In 2003, he authored Andrew Elton Williams: Ancestors, Contemporaries, Descendants, and Allied Family, a book about the patriarch of his Williams family, who settled in Graceville, FL.

He was an avid outdoorsman who loved exploring nature, whether it was the Okefenokee Swamp or the great Smoky Mountains of North Carolina. He also had a unique passion for racing Homing Pigeons. For over 45 years, he was a member of the Valdosta Pigeon Racing Club and the Dixie Combine. If you had a minute to spare, he would take you to see his pigeons and educate you on the sport.

The oldest of 23 first cousins, he was a natural leader and a man of faith. He always found the best in people and this trait made him a devoted husband, brother, father and grandfather as well as loyal friend. He did not have good "customers" at Country Cobbler, rather good friends. Everyone was welcome and he was delighted to serve three and four generations of families in his store.

He will be greatly missed by all who knew him.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Carolyn Barrientos Williams. His survivors include his wife, Carol Fletcher Williams of Valdosta, his sister and brother-in-law, Fredda Williams Shutes & Vivian Shutes of Panama City, FL; two sons and a daughter-in-law, Edwin L. (Edd) Williams, III of Atlanta, and Cason Williams & Leisa Williams of Hahira; and one daughter and a son-in-law, Ginny Williams Kirkland & Lawson Kirkland of Hahira; and four grandchildren, Anna Williams, Taylor Williams, Carolyn Kirkland and Young Kirkland, all of Hahira. He is survived as well by three step-children; step-daughter and son-in-law, Jarrett McAllister Tennyson & Glen Tennyson of Albany, step-daughter Kelly McAllister of Albany, and step-son, Hunter New, Jr., of Quitman. He is also survived by numerous nieces and nephews, as well as a whole host of cousins.

Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. on Thursday, September 2, 2010 at First Baptist Church of Valdosta with the Minister Mack Weaver officiating. The internment will follow at McLane Riverview Memorial Gardens. A visitation will be held Wednesday night from 6:00 – 8:00 pm at Carson McLane Funeral Home. Active pallbearers are Remley Farr, George Farr, Harbin Farr, Leonard Butler, Randy Drupiewski, Joe Drupiewski, Ben Cason and Bruce Moye. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to: Joe and Fredda Cason Scholarship Fund Waycross College, 2001 South Georgia Parkway, Waycross, GA 31503, 912.449.7600; The Williams Family College Scholarship Fund, C/O Jimmy Williams, Treasurer, 5395 Battleship Parkway, Spanish Fort, AL 36527, The Huxford Genealogical Society, P.O. Box 595, Homerville, GA 31634-3151, (912) 487-2310 www.huxford.com; or The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, Donor Services, P.O. Box 4072, Pittsfield, MA 01202, www.leukemia-lymphoma.org. Condolences may be conveyed to the family on the obituary page of www.mclanefuneralservices.com Carson McLane Funeral Home


Funeral Home:
Carson McLane Funeral Home
2215 North Patterson Street
Valdosta, GA
US 31602