In Memoriam: Marilyn M. Williams, Brentwood Resident

Marilyn Morgan Williams, 85, a 52-year resident of , was reunited with her parents, the late Clyde and Verna Morgan, on Sunday, Aug. 12, 2012.  She is survived by her son, Barrett, daughters Susan Williams and Julia Schlegel, and grandchildren Atticus and Adia Schlegel.

 Mrs. Williams, a 1948 graduate of Washington University’s School of Art, was a teacher, artist, and poet.  She was among the first teachers hired in 1965 for the new federal Head Start program and was assigned to Valley Park.  She later taught nursery school at Eliot Chapel in Kirkwood from 1974 to 1995, where she introduced hundreds of children to the wonders of art and nature.  She was an accomplished artist and poet, and a longtime member of the St. Louis Poetry Center.

 Mrs. Williams was born in Washington, D.C., and lived in a number of U. S. cities during her youth, as her father, an Army officer, was transferred frequently during those years.  She and her dad discovered Brentwood by chance in October 1944, in the midst of the legendary All-St. Louis World Series (Cardinals vs. Browns).  With all hotels and motels filled with baseball fans throughout the St. Louis region, they eventually found a guest house with a vacancy in “rural” Brentwood during a visit to Missouri.  Mrs. Williams liked the small community, and, 16 years later, in 1960, settled there with her children.  Her son and daughters all attended the Brentwood Public Schools.

 Visitation is Tuesday, Aug. 21, 4-7 PM, at Bopp Chapel in Kirkwood.  Memorial service is Wednesday, Aug. 22, 10 AM, at Eliot Chapel in Kirkwood.  Interment private.

Barret Williams contributed this remembrance to Maplewood-Brentwood Patch.