Barbara Buckman Williams

Barbara Buckman Williams of Sautee Nacoochee died peacefully, surrounded by the love of friends, at home on November 6, 2025. She was 81. Barbara was born at Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington D.C. on July 19, 1944, the first of two children of Henry Holland Buckman III and Margaret Day Buckman. In 1947 the family moved to Jacksonville, Florida where the Buckman family had roots; and this became the place that shaped Barbara's early years. She graduated from Duke University with a major in Latin and attended graduate school at the University of Michigan. Barbara briefly taught high school Latin before embarking on a 24-year career with the Social Security Administration as a claims representative before retiring in 1989.

Barbara made her first visit to Sautee Nacoochee at age 16 with her friend and future husband, Sam Williams. Sam's family-owned property in Nacoochee and were descendants of the first settlers of the area. Barbara and Sam eventually moved there from Atlanta in 1985, having designed and built an architectural treasure of a home perched over a melodic waterfall on Mauldin Creek in Nacoochee Valley.

The couple immersed themselves wholeheartedly in community affairs. Barbara devoted considerable time and effort to the formation of the volunteer fire department and restoration of the Nacoochee School property. She served on the Board of Directors and was a member of long standing on the SNC History Committee, where she made invaluable contributions to the research and editing of A History of Sautee Nacoochee, a recently published landmark work.

She had a keen interest in historical genealogy, both of her own family and of the Sautee-Nacoochee region in Georgia. She often helped family and community members with editing and correcting genealogical information.

Barbara was a great conversationalist and an intellectual in the best sense of the word; she had a depth of knowledge of the world, especially literature, history, and culture. She had strong opinions and the intellect as well as the facts to defend them; everyone who knew her had a dispute with her at some point. Several relatives remember Barbara, a Latin scholar, and her equally formidable mother-in-law, Helen Williams, arguing in Latin during Christmas dinner! Yet because she was fiercely loyal to those who loved her, these debates were rarely destructive.

Barbara's razor-sharp wit and delightful sense of humor made her a southern matriarch of the highest order. She never met a stranger and was delighted and fascinated by new people. She was a fun-loving person who always made unique contributions to social gatherings, potlucks, or costume parties. Her laugh was the sound of joy taken by surprise, and she once scared a bear off her front porch by barking at it! She loved kitties, and her last young kitty that survived her, SassyPants, is being cared for by Barbara's many friends.

Barbara's years of working for the Social Security Administration gave her both a sound understanding of humanity and a mind trained to understand complex issues. She learned to navigate the frustrating corridors of medical insurance and government bureaucracies. These experiences along with her keen mind and very kind heart, enabled her to help countless family and community members deal with legal, tax, and real estate matters.

She loved travel and was quite the gastronome. She and her ex-husband Sam traveled frequently to France, and her journals of their travels were epic in detail. Barbara described bicycle trips through heavily laden vineyards in the soft light of fall sunshine; and she recounted meals that would make a sultan weep: sauteed aubergines with tomatoes and summer squash or seafood freshly caught and served in a variation on a salad nicoise.

A fantastic cook herself, Barbara studied and distilled recipes from Cook's Magazine and other books into sumptuous meals. She enjoyed sharing her love of food and recipes; and she succeeded with nearly every cooking technique, from sourdough to sous vide. She kept a freezer full of pecans and shrimp, her very favorite food, and loved all kinds of cheeses and nuts. Barbara never forgot her roots, however, and often made the simplest of meat loaves for dinner.

Barbara was a model of forgiveness and exhibited enormous great grace when faced with adversity, having over many years repeatedly refused to be defeated by cancer. She was greatly admired and held dear by a wide circle of family members, friends, and acquaintances. She was a shining example of generosity, and her compassion and quiet internal strength uplifted the hearts of many.

Barbara was predeceased by her parents and sister, Priscilla McColl. She is survived by her niece, Jennifer McColl of New Orleans, Louisiana; nephew, Duncan McColl of Santa Cruz, California; and cousin, Helen McKay Sanders of Lopez Island, Washington.

Donations in Barbara's memory may be made to the Sautee Nacoochee Center in Sautee, Georgia or Grace-Calvary Episcopal Church in Clarkesville, Georgia. A celebration of life and potluck supper will be held in the Community Hall at the Sautee Nacoochee Center on Friday, January 23, 2026 from 5-8pm.