In Memory
Marjorie Ruth (Parks) Williams
Apr. 29, 1942 - Feb. 10, 2024
WILLIAMS, MARJORIE RUTH PARKS. Marje died in her sleep on February 5, 2024 in Canton, GA after years suffering from dementia. She was 81. Born in South Bend, Indiana, Marje was the middle daughter of Rev. Wilson and Marian (née Bulow) Parks.
She graduated from Riley High School and followed in her mother’s footsteps, attending North Central College in Naperville, Illinois, graduating in 1964 with a degree in music. At NCC, she met lifelong friends (“the girls”), influential faculty/staff (Rev. George St. Angelo), and the love of her life, Thomas (Tom) Williams, whom she married in South Bend on June 27, 1965. They had three sons. After stints in Naperville and Muskegon, they settled in Mount Pleasant, where Marje worked for Central Michigan University. Retiring in 1999, she and Tom tasted Chicago life for seven years before settling in Petoskey. Meanwhile, the family spent a dozen summers near Sleeping Bear Dunes before making a permanent summer (then seasonal) home on Bois Blanc Island. While she enjoyed the culinary arts, museums, and risqué humor, music was Marje’s gift. For decades, as pianist, organist, and choir member, she blessed the ears of Methodist and Episcopal parishioners throughout the Midwest and audiences of the Midland Center for the Arts Chorale.
Infant brother David, granddaughter Tiffany, son Devin (Mindy), her parents, brother-in-law George Hardin, husband Tom, and nephew David Heise preceded her in death. She is survived by her sons Christopher (Patti) of Canton, GA and Benn (Sarah) of San Francisco, her sisters Sylvia Hardin of Las Vegas and Beth Parker (Jack) of St. Louis, MO, grandchildren Lauren (Zach) Boyd and Cooper Williams, her great-granddaughters Corinne and Althea Boyd, and nieces and nephews.
There will be no public service; charitable donations in her memory could be addressed to the Alzheimer's Association or Emmanuel Episcopal Church.
04/01/2026 DEC
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