Dolores Mae Williams

Dolores Williams, universally proclaimed The Best Mom and Grandma in the World, passed peacefully to eternity on February 1, 2022, at the age of 92, sent with God’s blessing and the love of her family to join her beloved husband Dick, her parents and other family, the angels and saints. She was sweet, generous, faithful, and optimistic, and loved by everyone whose lives she touched.

Dee was born in Rochester, New York to Raymond Norton and Bertha Welpe Norton. She grew up in Rochester in a large and loving extended family with her two brothers and baby sister. She graduated Nazareth Academy, under the tutelage of the Sisters of St. Joseph. After graduation, she went to work at Kodak Company where (she told us!) she worked on one of the early computer systems. A pretty, lively young woman with a beautiful voice, she was supposedly destined to be a nun herself, but she said, “I knew I never would – I liked boys too much!” A friend set her up on a blind date with a handsome young Coast Guardsman named Richard Williams and, well, you can guess the rest! Dee and Dick were married in 1953 and soon welcomed their firstborn, Teresa, followed by Gregory, Laurie, and Michael. While the young family was growing, they moved for Dick’s schooling and work: Rochester to Indiana to central New York, then to Merritt Island, Florida when Dick joined the Apollo Moon Mission team and finally to Cary, North Carolina. Wherever the family moved, Dee made a home and planted a garden. Roses were her specialty. At one point, her yard in Cary bloomed with fifty-eight different rose bushes in a rainbow of colors! She was known as the Rose Lady at St. Michael’s Church, because she brought roses all season to grace the statues of the Blessed Mother and St. Joseph.

Dee’s family and her faith were her greatest loves. She was always our biggest fan and cheerleader, room mother, Cub Scout den mother, field trip chaperone and audience member. Our home was filled with love, music, books, cats and dogs and just a “little” chaos now and then. She loved celebrations and Christmas most of all. She decorated from floor to ceiling and baked for days: cookies and coffee cakes to share with family and all the neighbors. Dee was unfailingly generous and welcoming – our house was where all the kids came to play and hang out, because we had cookies! When grandchildren began to arrive, Dee became the World’s Best Grandma, spoiling them mercilessly while she taught them to love books, music and how to behave themselves. When Dick retired from IBM, he and Dee built their cozy retirement home in Calabash, North Carolina – and you can bet Grandma and Grandpa’s house at the beach became a favorite vacation and family fun spot.

When Dick passed away in 2009, Dee’s liveliness slowed down but her sweet generous heart never faltered. She returned to Cary in 2012 so that her family could finally spoil her. She was beloved by all at Jordan Oaks, Vintage Gardens and LiveWell Cary. Though her memory failed,

she kept her sense of humor and her love of sweets to the very end. God Bless you, our beloved and beautiful mother. We know you’re watching over us all.

Dee is survived by her children, Terri Ring (Mark), Greg Williams, Laurie Thorne, Michael Williams (Lisa), ten grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. She is also survived by brother James Norton, sister Mary Lu Baird, sister-in-law Ann Norton, numerous nieces, nephews, and cousins. She was preceded in death by her husband G. Richard Williams, her parents, her brother Thomas Norton, her sister-in-law Geri Norton, and her brother-in-law Dick Baird.

A Mass of Resurrection will be held Wednesday, February 16, at 12:00 noon at St. Michael the Archangel Church in Cary. In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to Wake County SPCA, https://spcawake.org/ , or a charity of your choice. Or simply plant a flower, say a prayer, and be kind to someone who needs a loving hand and heart. “You never know if they’re having a bad day,” she always told us. Dee always saw the good in everyone’s soul.

Link to the church's livestream for the day of the service: https://boxcast.tv/channel/cngtc2lhyliq8r89zhq7