Ernest Williams II

Williams, Ernest II, died at his home in Boynton Beach, Florida of congestive heart failure. He was 89 years old and a gentleman of good humor and sartorial taste. Born in Lynchburg, Virginia in 1915, he was the eldest son of Herbert Williams and Alma Hodge Williams Truitt Camp. Mr. Williams graduated from Washington & Lee University in 1938. During WWII, he served in the U.S. Navy as captain of an LST in the Mediterranean and as commander of a flotilla in the Pacific. A gifted salesman, Mr. Williams entered the investment business shortly after his discharge from the Navy. He represented several mutual fund companies in the 1950s and retired in 1969 as president of Mason & Lee, Inc., a Lynchburg based stock and bond firm. In 1970 he and his wife, Marjorie, moved to Hilton Head where they owned The Binnacle at Harbour Town, specializing in American antiques. In 1985 the Williams moved to Village of Golf, Florida where he was a member of St Paul's Episcopal Church chancel choir and other organizations. Mr. Williams received an honorary doctorate of laws and the distinguished alumnus award from W&L in 1993, and in 1995 the Williams School of Commerce, Economics, and Politics was established in his name. Mr. Williams is survived by his wife, Marjorie Owen Williams, of Lynchburg, Virginia and Village of Golf, Florida, a son, Ernest Williams III of Nashville, Tennessee, daughters, Tracy W. Barron of Concord, Massachusetts and Marjorie W. Coward of Vienna, Virginia, two grandsons, four granddaughters, one great-grandson, and numerous nieces and nephews. A memorial service will be held on Feb. 1st at 2 PM at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Delray, Florida. For those who wish, the family requests that contributions be made to St. Paul's in Delray or Washington & Lee University in Lexington.