BEMENT – Florence Sanders Williams, 91, entered into eternity with her Lord and Saviour at 6:07 p.m. on June 23 at the Bement Healthcare Center, Bement, Ill.

A lifelong resident of St. Joseph and Urbana, she later lived with her daughter and son-in-law, Dan and Carol Mullis, in White Heath.

Funeral services will be at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, June 28, at the First Baptist Church of Champaign at Savoy,0 with visitation one hour before the service.

Burial will be in Woodlawn Cemetery, Urbana.

Renner-Wikoff of Urbana is handling arrangements.

Mrs. Williams was born Florence Helen Parsons on Feb. 12, 1917, in Fithian, Illinois, the daughter of Stephen Bailey and Delola Taylor Parsons.

She married Kenneth Sanders on July 13, 1935, at the Church of Christ in St. Joseph.

She later married Joseph Williams at the First Christian Church in Champaign on June 20, 1974.

Florence is survived by her daughters, Janet (Bill) Sanders Manning of Champaign and Carol (Dan) Sanders Mullis of White Heath; two grandsons, Jeffrey Manning of Urbana and Matthew (Claire) Mullis of Homer; and great-granddaughter, Olivia Claire Mullis; as well as a stepdaughter, Joyce Williams Remesch; and stepson, Joe Burton Williams.

She was preceded in death by her husbands, parents, four brothers and three sisters.

Florence was a member of the First Baptist Church of Champaign at Savoy.

In her earlier years, she was an active member of the Church of Christ in St. Joseph, where she served as a Sunday school teacher for many years.

She was a charter member of the St. Joseph Evening Women's Club, a past president of the Women's Christian Temperance Union, and a past president of the Florida House Association in Urbana. She was a sales associate for Robeson's Department Store in Champaign for 20 years.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Bement Healthcare Center or the First Baptist Church of Champaign at Savoy.

Published in The News-Gazette on 6/26/2008.