Williams, Irene Winslow

Irene Audrey Winslow Williams left us and went to be with Jesus. She died on New Year’s Eve. She was born in 1930 in Belle Plaine, Iowa. She had a joyful childhood with her big brother Louis growing up on her parents’ farm and was close to her many relatives, and gained her lifelong love of birds and flowers there. She graduated from Iowa State after studying art and design.

In 1951 she married her husband Jim and they moved to the new northern Virginia suburbs growing around Washington. They raised four children in their house on Dover Court, where she lived for fifty years.

Her children remember those years for their own joyful childhoods, cooking together, and all that she taught them: especially to love God and serve others. They remember their parents’ hospitality, the many prayer meetings in their living room, and that their house was known to Christian teachers and ministers around the world as a welcoming place to stay and fellowship.

Ten years ago Irene moved to Blacksburg to live with her daughter Lisa’s family, and became a part of their church, Dwelling Place. Her health had declined in recent years and she needed more care, but she never gave up, even as her life became harder. She was getting ready to go with her family to their church New Year’s Eve prayer meeting when she suddenly died. She was 84.

Her four children and their families are Paul and Wendy Williams of Fredericksburg, Virginia and Sarah (Mrs. Jason Gerber) and Naomi; Lisa and Paul Robertson of Blacksburg, Virginia and Ellen, Greg and Jeff; Phillip and Debbie Williams of Atlanta, Georgia and Ryan and Cara; and Gail and Robert Feeney of Waterloo, Illinois and Jane, Dominick, Evan and Kyle. Her brother and his wife, Louis and Lillian Winslow, still live on the family farm.

A memorial service will be held at Dwelling Place Christian Fellowship, 3225 North Franklin Street in Christiansburg, Virginia on Saturday, January 3rd at 1:00. She will be buried later in the family cemetery in Belle Plaine, Iowa. She will abide in the heavenlies.

O my dove, in the clefts of the rock, let me see your face, let me hear your voice. Song of Solomon 2:14