Eleanor Toney Williams

1940 - 2025

Eleanor Toney Williams
12/30/1940 - 09/07/2025
Eleanor Toney Williams, 84, slipped the surly bonds of earth, and danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings on Sunday, September 7, 2025. A woman of great character and faith, Eleanor lived an extraordinary life brimming with love, compassion, and kindness.
A child of the Silent Generation, she was born to parents Chester Arthur Alan Toney and Eugenia (Ella Jean) Hazley Toney, in Saint Louis, Missouri. In 1943, she migrated westward via train with her mother and younger brother, Chester Lawrence Toney, to Marin City, California.
Academically gifted, she graduated from high school a mere 45 days after her 16th birthday. She earned a baccalaureate degree and several master's degrees from San Francisco State University.
In 1961, met and married Benjamin Rubin Williams, a high school science and math teacher with San Francisco Unified School District, and to this union were born a daughter, Kimberly and a son, Kendall.
In August 1963, upon garnering her lifetime teaching credential, she was joyfully employed as an elementary and middle school teacher with the San Francisco Unified School District. Teaching was her passion. Eleanor was admired by her students, fellow teachers, as well as administrative staff for her integrity, mastery of teaching, and enthusiasm for the art of teaching. She happily spent 38 years in the classrooms of SFUSD, leaving an indelible legacy infused with the love of learning with generations of students and their families.
Upon a well-earned retirement, she reveled in travel (near or far), sleeping late, reading, chatting on the phone with friends and family, hosting soirees and most importantly being a grandparent. Her laughter, unwavering and generosity of spirit, will be missed by all who knew her.
Eleanor was predeceased by her parents, the father of her children and brother. Her joie de vivre is cherished and carried forth by her daughter, Kimberly Toney Williams, son, Kendall Cameron Williams (Bradford) and her pride and joy, her treasured granddaughter, Jordan Payton Williams as well as a host of cherished family and friends.
A service in celebration of Eleanor's life will be held on Friday, October 10th, 2025, at 12:30 p.m., at the Hillside Chapel at Olivet, Cypress Lawn, 1601 Hillside Boulevard, Colma, CA. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Sutter Health California Pacific Medical Center Kidney Transplant Program (1100 Van Ness Avenue, Third Floor, San Francisco, CA 94109) in Eleanor's memory.