Nell Hitt Williams

By the time a hot summer day was over in Pleasant Hills, Miss. Gene Nell Hitt was born to Ollie and Gore Hitt. It was June 28, 1929, and she grew up on a hardscrabble Mississippi farm with two sisters, and two brothers. Fiercely independent, she left home almost immediately after graduating Grenada High School, heading off to some business courses, a few odd jobs, some modeling work, and, at 20 found herself in paradise, 1950's Miami.

The svelte, chic Nell landed a glamorous gig as a stewardess for fledgling Eastern Airlines. She'd light up sharing stories of her exotic trips flying those tin can DC-3's, bumping from Acapulco to New York City, Detroit to San Francisco. At 23 she married our dad, Tom, following him across the South as he finished college and Dental school. Eventually they returned to Miami, and were blessed with four children: Trent, Lance, Todd, and Wendy.

Mother was indomitable; loving, praying for and with her children, teaching them the love of Christ; indeed, she was the glue that held things together.

She could also walk into a room and turn heads: Stylish as Jackie O, and charming as Audrey Hepburn. Always a Southern stickler for manners,in the evening men wore only white shirts to special events, no calling someone after 9pm, and always a "sir" or "ma'am" when addressing an adult.

She became a beloved member of Coral Gables' Granada Presbyterian Church, and ensured her children were brought up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. She had a heart for scripture and prayer and bore unimaginable challenges with the grace of a steel magnolia taking strength from her faith in Christ. She toughed it out until 94, having moved from her home in Tallahassee to Tampa to live with her children, her health in serious decline. In God's providence, two of her children and their spouses had just prayed and sung the Doxology over her. Within the hour, she took her last breath. It was about 8:15 on the Sabbath of September 17th.

Of her four siblings, she is survived by her younger brother, Robert Hitt. Her beloved grandson, George Williams tragically pre-deceased her. She is survived by her children: Trent (Marcee) Williams, Lance (Amy) Williams, Todd (Amy) Williams, and Wendy (David) Shell, six of her seven grandchildren: Palmer (Caroline) and Olivia Williams, Lanier Williams, and Glenn, William, and David Shell. The family is deeply grateful for her caregivers, Kim Mosley and Cheryl Young, and to hospice, who treated her with kindness, dignity, and gentle care.

Please, in lieu of flowers, if you would consider contributing to one of her favorite charities: The Lighthouse Children's Home in Tallahassee: lighthousechildrenshome.com.

Nell will be honored at a memorial service on Nov. 4, at 10 A.M. at St. Petersburg Presbyterian Church, 600 83rd Ave., NE St. Petersburg, FL 33702.