Carmen Waltacia Williams

Carmen Waltacia Williams died peacefully in the arms of her son, Rev. Fr Chamindra S.Williams and beside her daughter Carmelita, in the early hours of the morning, 3 Dec 2022, at the home of her daughter, Carmelita in Holland, Michigan. Born in Colombo, Sri Lanka on 18 Oct 1944, she was married to the late Sunthararasan ‘Bobby’ Williams for 53 yrs. A Montessori School teacher by profession, she taught in the Maldives, Jamaica and Zambia before devoting her time exclusively to her role as mother. In the States, she leaves behind her 4 dear children, Carmeline, Rev. Fr Chamindra, Carmelita (Joseph) Laporte and Sean (Mary Susan), 12 grandchildren, and in Sri Lanka: many nieces, nephews, cousins and other relatives with whom she continued to remain close.

Bright, cheerful, outgoing, energetic and even cheeky, were some of Carmen’s many characteristic traits. But the dynamo of this simple woman’s life was nothing more than a lively Catholic Faith. In her childhood, this faith was learned, and more importantly, put into practice, growing up in the setting of a large and loving, albeit very human, extended family. After marriage, she and her husband Bobby continued to make faith and religion a priority in their own family. In every country she lived, she and the family were actively involved in the life of their local church, in activities such as lectors, Eucharistic ministers, St Vincent de Paul Society and religious education instruction, to name a few. She worked just as tirelessly to live her faith and religion in the home through practices such as the Sunday obligation to attend the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass (over which nothing whatsoever took precedence) or the recitation of the Rosary in the evening with the family. In spite of all the effort, Carmen would be the first to humbly acknowledge: “I am no saint”. The very last words Carmen heard just as she drew her last breath were “Hail Mary, full of Grace, the Lord is with Thee, blessed art Thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us, sinners, now, and at the hour of our death, Amen”. A Funeral mass will be celebrated at St Ignatius Loyola Cathedral, Palm Beach Gardens, at 11.00 am on Saturday, 10 Dec, with viewing at 10.00am. Burial will take place at Our Lady Queen of Peace Cemetery at 2.00pm.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.howard-quattlebaum.com for the Williams family.