Mrs. Frances "Clotine" Washburn Williams

Mrs. Frances "Clotine" Washburn Williams, age 95, passed away Saturday, Dec. 19, 2015 at Baptist Health Care, Lenoir City, Tenn. where she resided for the past year. She was born Frances Clotine Washburn, April 17, 1920, Newport, Jackson County Ark. Mrs. Williams was preceded in death by her husband, Arthur "Art" Joseph Williams, who died 1989 in Nacogdoches, Texas. Mrs. Williams was the only child of Audrey McLain, b. 1900 in Newport, Ark. and Robert E.L. Washburn, b. 1897 in St Louis, Mo. She grew up in Arkansas and graduated from the old Little Rock Central High School in 1939. She met and married her husband, Art, in Arkadelphia, Ark. where they married April 9, 1941, but soon moved to his hometown of Dubuque Iowa. By 1949, they and their first child, Audrey, were living in Dallas, Texas and later in Garland. They had three more children born to them while living in Dallas and Garland and moved in 1959 to East Texas soon after the birth of their last child: son, Robert. Over the years, their lives were also enriched by the many foster children they took into their home. Starting in Arkansas, even before their first child was born, Clotine and her husband, Art began fostering and continued to do so over the years. Even after the death of her husband, Mrs. Williams continued to foster in Nacogdoches County Texas until she was 80 years old. She was nominated in 1996 and chosen as the Outstanding Foster Parent from the Southern USA, one of five recipients of the award from other areas of the USA who were honored April 1996 in ceremonies in Washington, DC. Her passion, in addition to lakeside camping, was to do all that she could to give a needy child a home, even if a temporary shelter, and was fully supported by her husband. She shared her love of education, science, reading and Classical music with the foster children, just as she did with her own biological children. She and her husband made sure their four children had piano lessons, as well as other instruments in school bands. One daughter, Cecilia, earned a Master's in Music at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, and her son, Robert studied geology, leaving Nacogdoches to complete his studies in Norway where he graduated from Oslo University . Clotine loved to be on the go. Among their travels in the USA and abroad, she and her husband made several trips overseas to visit their son and his family in Norway and spent several weeks one year on a trip to Dhahran, Saudi Arabia to visit their daughter, Audrey and family. After her husband's death, she returned many times to Norway, as well as traveling with her children and their families on trips to Europe. In 2002, at the age of 82, Mrs Williams left Nacogdoches, Texas and moved to Loudon County Tenn. to be near her daughter, Audrey and family. In Tennessee, as in Texas, she joined in senior activities, took piano, violin and art lessons, and loved to help others, such as driving ‘old folks' to appointments or shopping trips, making many good friends in the area. She is survived by daughters: Audrey (husband, Scott Stanaland) of Tellico Village in Loudon, Tenn., Cecilia (husband, Joe Borders) of Carrollton, Texas, Clara (widow of Donice McElroy) of San Augustine, Texas, and son, Robert (wife Turid Nordmark) Williams of Rennesoy, Norway near Stavanger; grandsons: David and Eric Stanaland of North Carolina and Mark and Stephen McElroy of Lufkin, Texas; granddaughter, Maiken Nordmark-Williams of Norway; and four great-grandchildren: Sarah and Leah Stanaland and Kasey and Elizabeth McElroy. There will be no funeral service in Tennessee, but anyone wishing to do something in memory of Mrs. Williams may contribute to their favorite charity involving the welfare of children. Click Funeral Home in Lenoir City are handling the remains of Mrs. Williams, who will be interred in Nacogdoches, Texas next to her husband at Sunset Memorial Cemetery, where her parents are also buried. The family will celebrate her life and have graveside services at a later date in Nacogdoches, Texas. www.clickfuneralhome.com.