Nancy Elizabeth Marks Williamson

February 14, 2023

Nancy Elizabeth Marks Williamson was 78 when she died on February 13, 2023. She was born on July 21, 1944, the only child of Edward Taylor Marks and Olive Hawkins Marks in Jacksonville, Florida.

She was baptized at Avondale Methodist Church in Jacksonville as a baby, confirmed in faith as a young woman and followed Jesus all her life. She went to Fishweir Elementary, Lake Shore Junior High School and graduated from Robert E. Lee High School in 1962. Growing up she enjoyed summertime in Rutledge, Georgia where she and her mother visited with her Grandmother, Annie C. Barnes. She held fond memories of picking wild bachelor buttons and larkspur to place on the graves in the town cemetery, learning the stories of her ancestors buried there. On those visits she learned to sew on her grandmother’s treadle sewing machine and peel butter beans.

Growing up she was active in the Girl Scouts, dance, editor of her high school yearbook and her church where she volunteered teaching Vacation Bible School and Sunday School. Her love for teaching children led her to major in Elementary Education at the Florida State University where she was also a member of the Delta, Delta, Delta sorority.

It was at FSU that she met James Franklin Williamson “Jim” whom she married on January 3, 1965. The story is that she tripped down the steps of Jennie Murphree Hall at FSU into Jim’s waiting arms, and the rest is history. They were married 58 years.

Jim and Nancy started their life together in Pensacola, Florida. She was an elementary school teacher for Escambia County Public Schools and Jim worked for Sears.

Together Nancy and Jim had three children, Elizabeth, David and Kathryn. They lived and made life-long friends in Pensacola, Ft. Lauderdale, Jupiter, Miami and Gulfport, MS. Nancy’s love for children, teaching and faith was a gift to her children who she got to stay home with as they grew up. She enjoyed volunteering in their classrooms and as Girl Scout leader, going to dance recitals, making trips to the baseball park and band performances.

As the kids got older, Nancy began caring more for her own mother, delivering meals on wheels, and doing genealogy research for her family and friends. Her love of mystery, history and her family fueled her joyful genealogical research that became a blessing for generations to come. As a result of this work she became a member of Colonial Dames 17th Century, Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), Daughters of the American Colonists (DAC), Jamestowne Society, Clan Crawford, Continental Society Daughters of Indian Wars (CSDIW) and the United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC).

During their retired years together, Nancy and Jim loved gardening. She joined as a Charter Member of the Jasmine Garden Circle, the Pineglades Garden Circle, and the Garden Guild of St. Luke UMC. Nancy and Jim became local experts in horticulture, able to tell you the name of every plant, tree or shrub. They cultivated a beautiful back yard garden at their home with so many interesting varieties, and Nancy loved spending time in her later years on her hands and knees in the flower bed “relocating plants” (the term she used for weeding).

Nancy loved God, studying the Bible, passing on her faith to others and serving through her church, St. Luke United Methodist. She completed all the Disciple Bible Studies, the Companions in Christ series, was an active participant in Bible Study Fellowship and the Caring and Sharing Sunday School Class. She served many years as Chair of the St. Luke Altar Guild, coordinating weddings and making sure the sanctuary was prepared for worship each Sunday. It was Nancy’s faith in the faithfulness of God through Jesus that sustained her during the loss of her own parents and especially during the challenging and painful days of her cancer treatment. She thanked God that she got to live 20 years after her initial breast cancer diagnosis, and especially for the opportunity to get to know her grandchildren, Julia, JD and Hudson along with her great niece Gracie and great nephew Nicholas.

Nancy is survived by her husband of 58 years, James Franklin Williamson (Jim), her daughter Sarah Elizabeth Williamson, son Rev. David Andrew Williamson (Carolyn), daughter Kathryn Williamson Aufderheide (EJ), grandchildren Julia Sarah Williamson, JD Aufderheide and Hudson Aufderheide. She is predeceased by her parents Edward Taylor Marks and Olive Hawkins Marks.

Special thanks to people of Emerald Coast Hospice, Dr. Inclan and the Woodlands Oncology Staff, neighbors and all the many friends from the St. Luke United Methodist Church for their loving care for Nancy.

In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts can be made in Nancy’s name to the St. Luke United Methodist Church.

A memorial service will be held on Saturday, February 18, 2023 at 11:00 a.m. with reception to follow at the St. Luke United Methodist Church. 1394 East Nine Mile Road Pensacola, FL 32514.

Interment will follow at a later date at the Bayview Memorial Park in Pensacola, FL.

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Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under Obituaries