Lucille Janette Williams

Lucille Janette Williams was born in Fort Scott, Kansas, on an extremely hot day in the summer of 1936, July 15. She was told by her parents, Millard and Rachel Williams, that the circus was in town, and the elephants were dying because they couldn’t keep them cool. She grew up on a farm north of Fort Scott, near the community of Hammond, with an older sister, Lela, and a younger sister, Betty. Her maternal grandmother lived with them, giving her the opportunity to learn a lot about her heritage.

Lucille attended one-room country schools until she was old enough to attend Fort Scott High School. While there, she met her future husband and married shortly after graduation. The young couple moved to Wichita, where they both began their careers. When their family began to grow, Lucille stayed home to care for the children. Even though she was not “working,” she had many hobbies, some of which she was able to turn into profit-making opportunities: cake decorating, ceramics, crocheting, decorative painting with both acrylics and oils, among others. Lucille even owned and managed a craft shop called “The Daisy Patch,” where she taught painting classes.

There eventually came a time when the couple no longer saw eye-to-eye and they divorced after 30 years of marriage, when she was 50 years old. Lucille began working full-time at KG&E as an executive administrative assistant. She worked at KG&E until her retirement. During this time, she decided to attend Wichita State University, and obtained both her Bachelor of General Studies and Masters in Counseling between 50 to 60 years of age. Lucille also enjoyed gardening and became a Master Gardener through the Sedgwick County Extension Center.

Lucille had always been interested in her family history, having learned a lot from her grandmother while growing up. As she closed in on retirement, she began focusing on her genealogy. Lucille and her daughter, Sandra, worked on family history together for nearly 30 years, researching in libraries with microfiche machines, in cemeteries down country lanes, and in county courthouses’ dusty basements and attics, before documents could be found more easily on the internet. Through this research, Lucille and Sandra proudly obtained membership in the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) in 2003; granddaughter Alaina joined DAR in 2010. Lucille served as Treasurer and Chapter Regent of Flores del Sol Chapter NSDAR in Wichita.

In her final years, Lucille enjoyed continuing her genealogical research and reading. She had books on all types of topics, both fiction and nonfiction. Lucille loved books and read throughout her entire life, and was even a member of the Doubleday Book Club. She attributed her love of reading to her grandmother, who kept a nice library in the farmhouse, which Lucille took advantage of while she was growing up.

Lucille Williams died peacefully on Sunday morning, September 21, 2025, at Life Care Center of Wichita. She is survived by three children: daughter, Sandra Bush (husband, Randy), and sons, Derek Williams, and Joshua Williams (wife, Andrea). She leaves two granddaughters, Alaina Bush and Katarina Williams, all of Wichita, and her younger sister, Betty Swaim (husband, Rollin) of California.