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Marisa Williams Obituary
Marisa was born Aug. 17, 1989, in Panama City, Fla., a daughter of Charles and Donna Toole Williams.
Marisa was a graduate of Bay High School and Gulf Coast Community College. She was a student at the University of Central Florida, where she majored in technical theatre.
She loved people and animals and had a genuine love for life. Marisa had been involved in scouting and modeling.
She was a member of Springfield Methodist Church. Her family remembers her as always having a smile on her face and a wonderful impact on everyone she met. She was unselfish and giving and never met a stranger.
Left to cherish her memories are her parents, Charles and Donna Williams of Lynn Haven; two brothers, David "Bubba" Jeffrey and his wife, Kristin, of Panama City and Joshua Jeffrey of Fountain, Fla.; one sister, Amy Barry and her husband, Russ, of Raiford, Fla.; maternal grandparents, Robert and Teri Toole of Orange Park, Fla.; paternal grandparents, Daylon and Pat Williams of Panama City; paternal great-grandmother, Myrtle Hardy of Bonifay, Fla.; one nephew, Noah Jeffrey of Panama City; two nieces, Ashley Jeffrey of Raiford, Fla., and Melody Jeffrey of West Linn, Ore.; one aunt, Debbie Toole of Loganville, Ga.; and two cousins, Gabby and Brittnay Herlugson. Marisa also leaves behind her best friend, Nathan Simmons, and his family of Panama City, as well as countless friends.
She was preceded in death by her maternal grandmother, Betty Scroggin.
A funeral service will be held at 10 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 28, 2008, in the chapel of Kent-Forest Lawn Funeral Home with the Rev. Alan Ferguson presiding. Entombment will follow in the Forest Lawn Chapel of Love Mausoleum. The family will receive friends from 6 to 9 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2008, at the funeral home.
Active pallbearers will be David Jeffrey, Joshua Jeffrey, Nathan Simmons, Bob Miley, J.V. Stevens and Eric Adams.
Expressions of sympathy may be viewed or submitted online at www.kentforestlawn.com.
Funeral Home
Panama City, Fla. 32405
2403 Harrison Ave. 763-4694
To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.
Memories and Condolences
for Marisa Williams
Noja
January 12, 2021
Miss you
Tony Simmons
February 17, 2009
This is a copy of my column that appeared in the Panama City News Herald on Marisa's birthday in 2008:
---
"To Marisa … on the occasion of her 19th birthday"
The days are growing shorter again. For a while the humidity was down, and that gave the atmosphere a false feeling of autumn just around the corner. It’s back-to-school season, and you can smell it in the air. It makes me think of all those mornings you picked up Nathan for school, and I keep expecting you at the door any moment, calling out “Ola!”
You’d probably be at Good Will this week, picking out something stylish that no one else would have recognized until you put it together. There’s a new store on 23rd Street we’ve been meaning to visit. I’ll let you know what we find.
We went to the beach last Sunday and got a little red. I saw a woman gathering debris from the high tide line to decorate her sand castle. She picked up shells and twigs and a dead crab. Her project reminded me of the one we all built together out at Grayton, using June grass and algae to color the surrounding “grounds” and the mermaid’s hair.
We dropped in to spend time with Chuck and Carmen on the night before they left for D.C., sat on the carpet in their empty house while Chuck finished painting his Joy boots. You’d have been there with us, I know, and Chuck would have had no reason to paint, and we’d never even have known how lucky we were. I could have lived all my life having never painted a pair of galoshes.
Even so, Project Joy Boots is going well. We’ve raised about $1,200 towards a scholarship. Your mom and Katie and Jazma have been relentless promoters. I finally finished my pair of time travel boots, though Jazma thinks they’re more like Cyberman shoes. You decide. They’re on display now in the cases at the Amelia Center.
This time last year, we were at your house. Nathan sang “Business Time” and you guys sported matching Spider-Man T-shirts. I rewatched that video again recently, and it made me happy. The future seemed wide open then.
What a difference a year makes.
Well, I know none of this is news to you anyway, and we talk every day. You always were a good listener. We’ll be visiting today and releasing some birthday balloons, so keep an eye out. Try to catch them if they pass close enough.
Love.
Tony Simmons
February 17, 2009
Here is a copy of my Undercurrents column from the Sunday after Marisa died:
"All that's best of dark and light meet in her aspect and her eyes" - Lord Byron
_____
Let me tell you about this girl I know.
I can’t recall how we met. I do remember my son, then a junior at Bay High, saying that Marisa was helping him with his math, and I said, “Who?” and he said something like, “She’s a drama kid.”
But it seems no mere chance that the time our troubled lives began to get on track and start making sense coincided with her appearance.
Few anecdotes here, though. I’d need a warehouse of ink and paper to tell each story, and still they wouldn’t explain the complexity and (paradoxical) simplicity of her heart, mind and spirit. In fact, I don’t doubt that whenever I write from now on, some part of me will be writing about Marisa.
So descriptions instead, the briefest sketch to fit the page, though I wonder how one may capture a dream with words.
Beautiful in every way. Lightning wit. A smile that makes the world stop spinning. Rain boots and scarves. Silly accents. Accomplished hugger. Radiant. Made of pure love.
Sneaks across the lawn and crouches by the door (or just outside the front windows) and then calls on her cell phone to ask if she can visit. Says she’d have crawled back across the yard to her car if she’d been told no.
Forgives. Trusts. Leaves messages just to say “I love you” or “I’m coming to kidnap your child” or “I’m with the squirrel police and I have a warrant to search your house.” Rescues stray dogs and turtles in the street. Befriends strangers.
Always asks questions, when her shining eyes tell you that she already has the answers to any mystery you could ever imagine.
Likes Bradbury and Vonnegut. “Boondock Saints.” Lucero. Johnny Depp. Power tools. Apple juice in Mason jars. Red Twizzlers. Miyazaki. Crayons. Puppies and kittens. Leg warmers, striped stockings and toe socks. Barrettes. Taking photos. Playgrounds in the middle of the night. Couch pile-ons. Naps.
Thoughtful. Bold. Gentle. Funky. Mischievous. Tolerant. Sweet. Acerbic. Delightful. Strong. Giving. Spontaneous. Willing. Capable. Funny. Real. Creative. Soft. Driven. Precocious. Perky. Deep. Courageous.
Hogs the shrimp at parties. Teaches friends to levitate. Wears an apron and flour “war paint” when she bakes cookies. Rules movie nights punctuated by “Reefer Madness” or “Rocky Horror” sing-alongs.
Secretly leaves gel hearts on your car. Quotes “Moulin Rouge” on her bathroom mirror: “The greatest thing you’ll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return.”
Artist. Actress. Model. Techie.
Explorer. Instigator. Peacemaker. Dreamer.
Daughter. Sister. Auntie. Friend.
And so suddenly she exits the stage, her scenes unfinished, lines unspoken — and though we know beyond any doubt that she is one of God’s shining lights, she always has been and always will, that she watches us struggle and loves us from afar, still we ache at an emptiness only she can fill, the sense only she can bring to the world.
We hold our children close and gather in numbers to share our pitiful strength, and we watch for her in the stars and on the breeze, and listen for her in the sound of music and laughter of children, and find her in the widest skies and on the cool blue waves that sparkle like her eyes, full of answers and mystery.
Peace.
Georgia Taylor
December 8, 2008
I remember making the dirt pie with Marisa.
I remember us being stylish together.
I remember us being artsy.
I remember us being bored in her car outside of Wal-Mart, while she was sewing up her pants.
I remember all the laughs we had together.
I remember our adventures.
I remember us being tough as nails.
But most of all I remember our friendship.
I will always miss Marisa. (Booby)
And I will never forget her.
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Donna Williams
July 2, 2008
It has been 18 weeks and 4 days since Marisa left us. I don't think the pain of losing her will ever lessen or go away. She was my baby girl and it breaks my heart that she will not know the joy she gave me by being a mother herself, she will never grow old with the one she loved. Not one day has gone by when my eyes have not run with tears for her. I want to thank everyone who has and who still continue to lift up her father and I as we walk this path of life without her. She was our bright shining future and now that has been cut short. Please continue to lift us up in prayer. We love and miss you so much angel baby. I look forward to the day when we are reunited in heaven, because then we will never be apart again.
Love forever and always,
Mommy
Amber Penna
March 15, 2008
Marisa lived here at the Polos East- and i work in the office. She came in to visit weekly- she was always amazing, beautiful, joy-filled...just unreal!!! i miss her dearly- and she is an inspiration- as she was a true being- a wonderful part of life. love Amber
Geri Magee
March 11, 2008
So sorry to hear of your loss.I am shocked and saddened by the loss of a young lady that had so much to offer the world! My sympathy is with you and yours in such a time of grief! Sincerely, Ms Geri Magee/National Discovery
Katie Vickmark
March 1, 2008
I didn't hang out with Marisa all that much, but the times I did, I had the most fun. That is who she is, fun and heart. and she did give us her love, evey single time she smiled.
Kristin Jeffrey
February 29, 2008
Marisa, you were not only my sister-in-law, but you were my little sister. You were beautiful inside and out. I'm an only child and from the first time I met Marisa we hit it off. She will be missed so much. I hate that Noah will grow up not knowing his aunt Marisa, so it's mine and David's job to make sure we tell him about her and show him pictures of his aunt Marisa. My heart goes out to my mother-in-law, Donna. No one should ever have to bury their child. I pray I never have to be in that position and feel the pain she is feeling.Always make sure to tell the people you care about that you love them because you never know if you will ever see them or talk to them again. Marisa, we love you and miss you dearly. Say "hi" to Jesus.
Jackie Hudgins
February 29, 2008
Charles and Donna
You are in my prayers. May God give you Peace and Strength.
Love you, Jackie Hudgins (SUMC)
Calvin Green
February 28, 2008
It's truly hard, very hard, to let go of someone who has touch my heart so many times over the years. It's a sad day but a day to rejoice in knowing she is walking hand in hand with Jesus.
Debby Gautreaux
February 28, 2008
Donna & Charles & Family: It is so hard to find the words to express to you the sorrow I feel for your loss of your daughter. Marisa's passing has consumed my days ever since hearing of what happened. My heart breaks for you Donna from one mother to another. I just can't even fathom what you and your family are going through. Please know that Travis and I will be praying for you and your family during this time. God Bless.
Debby Gautreaux
Jenni Messer
February 28, 2008
She brought such a light into this life.. My prayers are with you during this time.
Preston & Jeanette Phillips
February 28, 2008
Donna,Charles and family,
We are praying for yaul and are here for yaul in the coming weeks,months. Marissa is a shining star in heaven, dancing for Jesus. She has the best outfit ever. I image she designed it herself. A one of a kind. We love you guys!!! We will continue to pray for yaul as well. If you need anything please call.
With Gods love,
Preston & Jeanette
Todd Parkin
February 27, 2008
Charles, Donna and Family...
I only knew Marisa for a little while, but I always remember her with a smile at church. She had such a zeal for life and though short, was a fullfilling one. She knew she was loved by her family, and she took all the extra love you all and Jesus gave her, and spread it to everyone she met. She will be truly missed. I know she is with God now, and that one day you all will get to see her again. I pray for peace and understanding in your lives the next few days. God bless.
Berkeley Reeves
February 27, 2008
Marisa's warmth and kindness will forever be indelibly imprinted upon my heart. To know her was to love her and love life. I am so grateful to have known her, and so very thankful that her family shared her with all of us. In classes, she was encouraging to others, including myself -- in her craft, she was knowledgeable, and always willing to share with someone like me who could ask a million questions in 10 seconds. Always smiling, always positive, she lifted me up and now I pray she is lifted up on high with God.
Jan Evett
February 27, 2008
I am so sorry. Marisa was such a beautiful person, and we will always have such fun memories of being with her from our trip to NYC in 2004. You are in my heart, thoughts, and prayers. I know there is nothing that can ease your pain apart from God's grace. She is in His care, although that does not take away our grief, love, and memories. We are here for you if you need anything.
Allison Troia
February 27, 2008
I had the blessing to grow up with Marisa. She was my best friend and the big sister I would never have. I loved her so much. I know she is with the Lord but i will still miss my Risa.
gwen hanson
February 27, 2008
dear mrs donna; my heart goes out to you.
ainah elena cervantes
February 27, 2008
hello bro Charles and sis Donna, this Aileen Cervantes here. Been attempting to call you but no one picking up the phone. You are in my prayers and thoughts and Marissa will be missed. She had so much to give this world. The news of her passing rendered me shocked. And if I can somehow bear some of your pain and ease your hearts I would do it. I love you, you are one of the best people that has come across my life.
much love and prayers,
Aileen and Cervantes family
Mike & Sheron Johnson
February 27, 2008
Although we only met Marisa once during the Christmas holiday, we knew that she was a very special person who was loved by many. She will be missed very much. Our condolences for your loss and our thoughts and prayers are with you all.
linda dukes
February 27, 2008
Donna and Charles and family. Although I did not your Marissa, please know you and your family have been on my heart and in my prayers and will continue to be. I pray the nearness of our Lord will give you peace. God bless, Linda Dukes
Rev. Perry M. Dalton
February 27, 2008
Dear Charles and Donna:
Words can not express my sorrow about Marisa. She was such a beautiful girl, full of life. My heart breaks for you. I so enjoyed Marisa coming to church. Her smile and joy was always there. Anne and I will not come to the services but in a few days we will call you and maybe see you the next time we are in Panama City.
Charles, I know she was the apple of your eye and nothing can replace that. I just want you to know that I love you and God loves you. Donna, Charles, hang in there! One day you will experience a reunion. I can only imagine the hurt of your hearts. As you know, I have many children. I have cried over them many times, but have not yet lost one of them. Our prayers are with you both especially these next few days.
May God's love fill those voids you feel right now.
In His love and blessings,
Justin & Alisa Pridgen
February 27, 2008
Donna, Charles and Family,
Marisa was such a special person not only to our son, Eric but to our entire family. I thank you so much for sharing her with us. She will always remain in our thoughts, memories and hearts as she was that little piece of heaven on earth. You are in our thoughts and prayers.
Greg & Hannah May
February 27, 2008
Chas, Donna, Amy, Ashley, Josh and all the Williams family,
There are really no adequate words to express how our hearts are hurting for you.
Marisa was a one-of-a-kind creation of God, and her going home leaves such an empty spot.
Though Marisa was young, she truly led a good life, full of zeal, adventure and wonder in God's design and purpose for her.
A good and full life in Jesus is the most important thing any of us could hope for.
She will be missed.
Vanessa Jordan-Henry
February 27, 2008
Dear Family,
I did not have the pleasure of knowing Marisa but I work with her Aunt in Georgia. My heart and prayers are with you in your time of despair. Please know that God will see you through these difficult times.
Brian, Michelle, & Alexis Edwards
February 26, 2008
Our family is sad to hear of your loss, and your family is in our thoughts and prayers through this time. The loss of a family member is never an easy journey, but remembering what they meant to you will help heal the sorrowed heart as time passes.
Alyssa Smith
February 26, 2008
To Mrs. Donna and Mr. Charles,
I know my mom and dad already put something from us, but I want to put in my say. Even though we kind of grew apart as we got older, I remember that Marisa and I used to be on pretty good terms. I remember she would hang out with me and talk to me when I was alone. She was one of my shining role models, and she prayed with me whenever I asked.
I know we didn't really talk in later years, but she was always nice to me and I miss her so much. We all do. I just want you to know I cared and always will.
God Bless.
-Syl
Amy Barry
February 26, 2008
Marisa was an exceptional person. Our family is saddened by this tragedy. She was a wonderful friend and an extraordinaary sister. We miss her so much.
Laura Barrett
February 26, 2008
Donna, Charles and Joshua.
I am sorry for your loss. I know your pain. I experienced loss 8 months ago. Marisa is with JESUS now. Waiting on all of you. I remember her helping in childrens church, with Lisa and myself. She was always Happy and kind. Again I'm sorry. Laura
Chuck Clay
February 26, 2008
May God bless you. Marisa was a wonder the likes of which this world has never seen. She touched all who knew her, and was loved by many. She will be sorely missed.
Robin Bills
February 26, 2008
From Robin and Tina Bills, from Girl Scouts, we will always remember you Marisa. You touched our hearts with
your loving smiles and laughter. Our deepest sympathy goes to the family members of Marisa, losing someone so young and dear will always be a hard reality to face. May Marisa's love, joy, happiness and smiles live within us all.
Billi, Kortnee, April, and Madisyn Murphy
February 26, 2008
My family is sad to hear of Marisa's passing. We remember her from the time we spent in Chrurch and through her sister Amy. Marisa was a beautiful girl and will be missed. I know she is in the loving arms of Jesus,and pray that will bring comfort in your time of sorrow.
Melissa Hitzelberger
February 26, 2008
Marisa, (risa) love the time spent with you & would give anything to have just another minute with you.
Tony Simmons
February 26, 2008
My heart is broken, and I'm not alone in that. 'Risa touched so many lives, brought strangers together in her circle of love, and she remains one of the brightest lights in our lives. I appreciate so much the love and support being shown by friends and family for one another. Peace be with you all.
Bill and Robin McNew
February 26, 2008
Charles and Donna,
Our prayers and thoughts are with you all. We love you very much and are here for you. Marisa was beyond special and will be missed so much.
Love, hugs and blessings,
Bill and Robin, Alyssa and Christian.
Heather Balberde
February 26, 2008
Dear Family of Marisa Joy,
My hope is that you are surrounded by God's love and peace during this difficult time. Deborah was very proud of her special niece, and my heart goes out to the entire family.
God is with you all.
Mary Thomas
February 26, 2008
I did not get to know the remarkable woman that Marisa had become but I loved her like a sister for the ten years that I grew up knowing her and her family. She really was the kind of girl that returned lost dogs and tagged along with her older brother. She will be deeply missed. My deepest sympathies are with her family at this time, along with my thoughts and prayers.
Alvin and Jean Crawson
February 25, 2008
Our prayers, love, and sympathy go out to all of you during this time of grief. Please know you are in our thoughts and prayers. With love,
Sally Cougill
February 25, 2008
All of you continue to be in my prayers. Marisa will always be speical and in each of your hearts. May God bless each of you at this sad time. Sally
rohonda reed
February 25, 2008
Dear Family,
I did not know Marisa; but I have worked with her father Charles for years and my prayers of peace and love are with all of you during this time.
God Bless, Rohonda Reed
Kelly Baker
February 25, 2008
May God bless you and your family in this time of sorrow.
Debra Baker
February 25, 2008
I am so very sorry for your loss. My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family. My daughter, Kelly Baker, works with your sister in Duluth. I am truly sorry. May God give you the peace that you need at this time.
Amanda Coffman
February 25, 2008
Your family doesn't know me. However, I am so deeply saddened by the death of Marisa. My son was at Mowat with her and I will never forget the Christmas dance their 8th grade year. All the other girls were over-dressed, had too much makeup on, their hair in "updos" and looked silly but Marisa was different! She had a cute, short haircut and was dressed in silver pants and top - so adorable and so stylish - not at all looking like everyone else. I asked my son who she was - he told me - and I went up to her and told her she was the most beautiful girl in the room. She just smiled and said thank you. There are no words to comfort you at this time - just know that she was special - even to a stranger who remembers her after all these years. I pray that God will comfort you and all who love and miss Marisa.
Kenneth & Terri Adams
February 25, 2008
Our deepest sympthay is extended to Marisa's family. We spent time with Marisa when she dated our son, Eric Adams. We considered Marisa as part of our family. Her smile was contagious and she was truly a joy to have in our company. It is truly such a tragedy. Marisa touched many lives. She will be missed.
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