Mary Pearl Williams

Mary Pearl was born on January 12, 1928, to Marvin and Theo Mae Kethley Hall, in Brownsville, Texas, where Marvin was Cameron County Attorney. The family, including her younger brother, Jack Raymond Hall, moved to Austin in 1935, when Marvin became Fire Insurance Commissioner of Texas. Mary Pearl was an energetic tomboy, leading neighborhood games and enjoying all sports, especially basketball. In her senior year, she was chosen Queen of Austin High School and Senior Class Favorite.

Mary Pearl obtained a B.A. with Honors from The University of Texas and a J.D. from the UT School of Law by the age of 21. She began her legal career as an Assistant Attorney General of Texas, 1949-1950. She married Jerre Stockton Williams, the love of her life, in 1950. He was a UT Law School professor and later a Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. They were married for 43 years until his death in 1993. During a year in New York, Mary Pearl was a model with the Conover Agency.

While her three children were young, she focused primarily on civic and community work. She served on the Boards of Directors of the Salvation Army, the United Way, the Junior League, and Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA). She organized the Austin Chapter of Save the Children Federation.

During Lyndon Johnson's 1964 presidential campaign, Mary Pearl was co-chair of the statewide Ladies for Lyndon organization and accompanied Lady Bird Johnson on the "Flying Whistlestop" tour through South Texas, making rousing campaign speeches in English and Spanish.

Her distinguished judicial career began in the summer of 1964, when the Austin City Council appointed her to be the first "relief judge" for the Municipal Court. In 1966-67, she was a part-time Instructor in the UT Government Department and also was a consultant to the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, in Washington, DC, appointed by John V. Gardner, Secretary of HEW. When the family moved to Washington D.C., Judge Williams served as an Attorney in the Office of Emergency Preparedness, in the Executive Office of the President from 1968 to 1970, after which her family returned to Austin. For several years after 1970, she served as a consultant to that office, traveling to sites of natural disasters and working to insure that federal relief to those areas complied with civil rights laws. She drafted the agreement between the OEP and the American Bar Association concerning emergency legal services in disaster situations. She worked on procedural regulations for the President's Wage and Price Stabilization Program in August, 1971.

From 1973 to 1980, Judge Williams served as Judge of Travis County Court-at-Law No. 2. Appointed by Travis County Commissioners to serve an unexpired term, she was elected without opposition in either political party in 1974 and 1978. She was elected Presiding Judge in 1976 and took the lead in establishing the first court administration program in Travis County, which began in January, 1977. That program won national recognition as the "Best Court Administration Program of a Misdemeanor Docket" in 1980, from the National Association of Counties.

Judge Williams served as Judge of the 53rd Judicial District Court in Travis County from 1981 through 2000. She was elected five times to this bench--in 1980, 1984, 1988, 1992, and 1996--each time without Democratic or Republican opposition. During those years, she received many professional honors, including Life Fellow of the American Bar Association, Fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation, Membership in the invitation-only American Law Institute, appointment by the Texas Supreme Court to its first Judicial Planning Committee, and appointment by Governor Dolph Briscoe to the Texas Governor's Conference on Criminal Justice Standards and Goals. She also served on numerous committees of the American Bar Association, the State Bar of Texas, and the Travis County Bar Association.

She was selected "Outstanding Woman in 1974" (one of five) by the Austin chapter of Women in Communications; one of five "Outstanding Women in 1974" by the Austin American-Statesman; "Woman of the Year" in 1976 by the International Toastmistress Association, Austin chapter; and "1977 Woman of the Year" by Business and Professional Women, Austin District. In 2001, she received the "Outstanding 50 Year Lawyer Award" from the Texas Bar Foundation.

Judge Williams spent much of her volunteer time serving her beloved University United Methodist Church. She served on the Administrative Board, the Board of Trustees, the Worship Commission, and the Pastor-Parish Relations Committee. She was the Speaker for the Church's first annual Women's Retreat, and delivered the Laity Sermon in 1990. She also preached Laity Sermons at Wesley United Methodist Church and Central Christian Church. She taught Vacation Bible School, and served as a Lay Reader. She loved reading and discussing psychology and theology books and was known for her trenchant questions and lively observations in her Sunday School class she named the Quadrilaterals.

Throughout her life Judge Williams was active in many other organizations, including the League of Women Voters, the University of Texas Faculty Wives, Travis County Women Lawyers Association, Heritage Society, Austin Women's Political Caucus, Pan-American Round Table, the Tuesday Club, Kappa Alpha Theta Alumnae, and Jocalia, an investment club of which she was a founding member. She maintained memberships in the Austin Assembly, the Headliners Club, the Austin Club, Austin Woman's Club, PEO, and the West Austin Rotary Club.

Mary Pearl's parents, husband, and brother pre-deceased her. She is survived by her son, the Rev. Jerre Stockton Williams, Jr., and wife, Leslie, of Kerrville, Texas; by her daughter, Shelley Williams Austin, and husband, the Rev. James Austin, of Austin; and her daughter, Stephanie Williams Laden, and husband, Larry, of Austin. She is survived by six grandchildren: Jerre S. Williams, III, (wife, Jessica), and Caroline Williams, of Kerrville; John Austin and Will Austin of Austin; and Keathley Laden and Daniel Laden, of Austin; by her sisters-in-law, Shelley Furr Nelson of Lubbock and Nancy Dukek of Maplewood, NJ; and by several wonderful great-grandchildren, nieces and nephews. They will very much miss her enthusiasm, vitality, and wit. They will cherish memories of their beloved Mary Pearl, whom they called "Impy," the nickname given by her husband. They will remember happy summer trips together hiking in Estes Park, Colorado.

A memorial service celebrating her life will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Monday, March 5, 2012 at the University United Methodist Church, 2409 Guadalupe, Austin, TX 78705, with a reception following at the church. Parking is available at the Platinum parking lot at 25th and Guadalupe. Visitation will be held on March 4 from 4 to 6:00 p.m. at Weed-Corley-Fish, 3125 North Lamar, Austin, 78705. Graveside services will be held at the Texas State Cemetery at 12:30 p.m. on March 5. Pallbearers will be Judge Williams's six grandchildren. Honorary pallbearers will be her esteemed colleagues, the judges of Travis County, past and present, and Barbara Ruud, her lifelong friend. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial contributions be made to University United Methodist Church, to the Mary Pearl Williams Scholarship created in 2001 by the Travis County Women Lawyers Association, or to the charity of donor's choice. The family is grateful for the faithful, caring presence of her friends and for the excellent care given by the nurses and aides at Westminster Health Care and Hospice Austin.