Charles D. Williams

Charles David Williams passed away on Thursday, May 14, 2020. He was born July 16, 1935, in Hainesville, Texas and began his education there, continuing on to elementary school in Quitman, Texas. He graduated from Quitman High School in 1953 and married his high school sweetheart, Shirley Dodd, in 1954. Charles’ parents, Floyd Williams and Audie Hall Williams, preceded him in death, as did his son, Charles D. Williams, Jr. (Chuck), his daughter Sheree Jan Schuhmacher, his brother Lee Williams, and his sister, Doris Spanko.

He is survived by his wife of 65 years, Shirley, brothers Conley and Jerry Williams, granddaughter Amy Lynn Schuhmacher Williams, grandson Brian Matthew Schuhmacher, great-grandson Noah Maddox Kelley, and great-granddaughters Quinn Louise and Phoebe Adele Schuhmacher.

Charles received Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees from Texas A&M University in 1957 and 1959. He entered the U.S. Air Force on August 17, 1958 and spent four years on active duty and sixteen years in the USAF Reserves, retiring as a Lt. Colonel. After leaving the Air Force he joined Atlantic Richfield Company (ARCO) and worked in Dallas, New York and Los Angeles for fourteen years. While in Dallas, he received an MBA-Finance degree from Southern Methodist University. Charles left ARCO to join Texas Oil and Gas (TXO) in Dallas and was there five years until they were acquired in 1986 by U.S. Steel Corporation (USX). He and Shirley then moved to corporate headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where he was an executive officer at USX and on the internal boards of directors of USX, Marathon and TXO, the Board of the U.S. Steel & Carnegie Pension Fund, and the 7-person Corporate Policy Committee of USX. He retired in 2000, and he and Shirley moved to Tyler, Texas in 2006.

A memorial service will be held Saturday, July 18, 2020 at Hainesville Baptist Church in Hainesville, Texas at 1:00pm with Rev Terry Davis and Fred Morrow officiating.

Memorials may be made in Charles’ name to the Wounded Warrior Project at P.O. Box 758516, Topeka, KS 66675-8516. To leave a tribute, please visit www.dignitymemorial.com.