Sue Williford

Sue Pundt Williford, in her own words the week before she died, "had a great life!" She was 89 years old and passed away (of kidney and heart complications) on April 29th, 2025, in Thousand Oaks, California, just ten days shy of her 90th birthday. Sue was born on May 9th, 1935, in the small panhandle town of Canadian, Texas at the height of the dust bowl, her crib covered with a wet sheet to protect her from breathing in the thick red dust that permeated the air.
Her very early life was spent moving around to where her father, a pipeline engineer, was needed most, including Texas, New Mexico, Colorado and then finally Houston, Texas where she attended Lamar High School and was a member of the Coralettes. She took six years of Latin between Jr. High and High school and graduated with honors. (Her husband joked he may not have made it through medical school without her helpfulness with Latin!) Filling notepads with sketches and clothing designs from an early age, she graduated from Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri with an AA in Fashion Design in 1955.
She married Frank Williford, III, M.D. in Houston, Texas on August 24th, 1957. They met at St. Pauls United Methodist Church MYF group. The first time he called for a date when they were in high school, she turned him down. She thought he was "a little fast", and he later said he thought she was worth risking rejection for and asked her out again a few weeks later. He passed away in 1989. Frank and Sue had two children: Frank Williford IV of Nevada City, California and Mary Catherine (Cat) Williford of Port Hueneme, California.
Sue loved being a wife and mother and had this Jackie Kennedy quote on her refrigerator: 'If you bungle raising your children, I don't think whatever else you do well matters very much.' She parlayed her love of fashion into designing and sewing clothes for herself, her daughter, and her daughters dolls. She embroidered while waiting to pick up kids for carpool, during orthodontic appointments and while the family watched TV. She played classical piano and loved projects like stripping and staining family antiques, heading up community charity events as the President of the Medical Auxiliary and volunteering with the Service League of Port Arthur. She was also a member of the DAR, Captain William Sanders chapter. And then there is her love of all things sports particularly baseball. (Any Houston sports team, really. Many a Sunday afternoon was spent at Houston Oiler games in the Astrodome!) She was known in her daughters circle as being the "cool mom" who listened to hip music and drove the late shift to pick up the gang after CYO dances, movies, or pizza night.
Part of her great life included witnessing the birth of a rock-n-roll legend on her honeymoon in Natchez, Mississippi as they entered a road-house juke joint, a then-unknown Jerry Lee Lewis was jumping up and down, wildly playing the piano and singing. She later experienced yet another rock-n-roll legend in his prime thanks to front row seats for an Elvis Presley show in Las Vegas, often saying she could have put her purse on the stage.
Sue was an avid reader of just about everything two newspapers a day, magazines of all genres, biographies, fiction, and history. When introduced to Apple News, she was in heaven! Curious about peoples motivations, psychology and psychological profiles of people fascinated her. From the early loss of her beloved husband Frank to the loss of her home in Harvey, to the last six months of health challenges, she displayed great courage and resilience.
Sue had a special zest for life and a ready laugh, and she instilled a love of the arts into her children. She enjoyed traveling to New York to see Broadway shows (and to shop!), made it a point to experience museums wherever she visited, and sampled the local cuisines. She and her husband Frank thought Port Arthur, Texas was a wonderful place to raise their family. She enjoyed the beach and found great pleasure in seashells, lighthouses and delicious Gulf seafood, and she frequently attended special events and noted speakers at Lamar University - Port Arthur.
Sue is predeceased by her husband Frank Williford, III, M.D., parents, John Halley Pundt and Mary Fay Martin Pundt, and a nephew, John Hart Pundt. She is survived by her children Frank Williford IV (Lisa) and Mary Catherine (Cat) Williford, her dear brother, John Lee Pundt, (Peggy), and nieces and nephews Mary Sue Powell, Bill Powell, Nora Powell Duraso, Leonard Murphy Jr., (Beverly), Alice Murphy Jones and Mandy Pundt Ciotti (George). Great nieces and nephews include Paul Duraso, Jennifer Duraso Cramer (Mitch), Katie Murphy Whidden (John), Cyndi Murphy, Susannah Jones Smith (Dylan), Sarah Jones, George H. Ciotti and Sadie Ciotti. Great-great nieces and nephews include Jalen, Jordan and Jocelyn Cramer, and Teddy Smith.
Services will be held at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, June 21st, 2025, in Rosenberg, Texas at Garmany & Carden Funeral Directors, with a graveside service to follow at the Briscoe Family Cemetery in Fort Bend County.
In lieu of flowers, donations in memory of Sue may be sent to:
Museum of the Gulf Coast / Port Arthur Historical Society https://www.museumofthegulfcoast.org/
Doctors Without Borders
https://give.doctorswithoutborders.org/campaign/680615/donate?c_src=ADD2401U0U06&c_src2=bing.cpc.CKMSF-BRAND_DWB-BS-ALL-DWBBrand_E-BO-18t65P-RSA-Evergreen25_2-MONTHLY&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=CKMSF-BRAND_DWB-BS-ALL-DWBBrand_E-BO-18t65P-RSA-Evergreen25_2-MONTHLY&msclkid=f14d9f5ed89b1c764601f744f8e671b9
Food Share Ventura County
https://foodshare.com/
River Valley Pioneer Museum, Canadian, Texas
https://www.rivervalleymuseum.com/ (Click on "Shop" to donate.)
...Family in the care of Erin Arteaga, Funeral Director To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Sue, please visit our floral store.