Obituary of Marion Hanson Williams

Marion Hanson Williams, Age 102, formerly of Athens, Georgia, died August 11, 2024, at the home of her daughter, Krista Williams Lamar of Aiken, South Carolina.

Marion was a native of Brookings, South Dakota and grew up with a host of cousins across Eastern South Dakota, Iowa, and Southern Minnesota. Her grandfather, Anders Hanson, had immigrated from Norway and assisted in surveying the telegraph lines from Sioux Falls to Brookings.

Marion met David Williams when he was teaching at South Dakota State University. Shortly after his enlistment in the Army, David and Marion wed in Sacramento, California in 1943. During the War years, she worked in a daycare school for children whose parents were working for the War effort.

She graduated from South Dakota State University with a Bachelor’s degree in Home Economics and attained her Master’s degree in Psychology and Guidance Counseling from the University of Georgia, Athens. After a long career in the classroom and as a counselor, she retired in 1984 from her position of Guidance Counselor with Wicomico County High School in Salisbury, Maryland. After her retirement, the Williams moved back to Georgia, and at the age of 70, Marion started a second career volunteering for the American Red Cross working at blood drives in the Georgia counties of Clarke, Oconee, and Gwinnett for 25 years. When she wasn’t working on blood drives, she was knitting scarves for the homeless, crocheting lap blankets for residents of nursing homes, working at the Church soup kitchen for the homeless, or taking food or flowers to a friend. An actively serving member of First United Methodist Church of Athens for almost 40 years, Marion was a faithful Christian. In the spirit of a favorite verse to “love one another”, and in lieu of flowers, her family requests kind acts for which she was known: take flowers to a friend; visit shut-ins at home or in the hospital; call an old colleague; bring together a group of friends.

Marion was preceded in death by her beloved husband of 62 years, W. David Williams, and her son, Joseph Hanson Williams.

She is survived by daughters, Krista Lamar of Aiken, South Carolina, and Susan and husband, Clark Avant of Sandersville, Georgia; a daughter-in-law, Julie Cassidy Williams of Jacksonville, Florida; six grandchildren, and eleven great-grandchildren.

The family will receive friends at Wesley Woods/Talmadge Terrace, 801 Riverhill Drive, Athens, Georgia, from 1:00 to 3:00 PM, on Saturday, August 24, 2024. A memorial service will be held at a later date.

The Historic George Funeral Home & Cremation Center, 211 Park Ave SW, Aiken, SC 29801 (803) 649-6234. 

Online expressions of sympathy for the family may be left by visiting www.georgefuneralhomes.com.