January 30, 1951 – January 17, 2022
DALLAS – Freddie James Williams, 70, beloved husband, father, grandfather and friend, died on Jan. 17, 2022, in Dallas, TX.
A visitation will be at 1 p.m. on Jan. 22 with the funeral following at 2 p.m. at the Nocona United Methodist Church, 200 Grayson Street, Nocona. A reception will be that evening from 5 to 8 p.m. at Daddy Sam’s, 314 Clay Street, Nocona.
Freddie was born on Jan. 30, 1951, in Bowie to Fred and Lucille Foster Williams. He grew up near Forestburg with his brother, Danny. His family raised cattle and pigs and Freddie was active in Future Farmers of America and played basketball.
Freddie graduated with a degree in range management from Texas Tech University in 1973. At tech, he was a member of the Student Senate, the Aggie Counsel and Phi Delta Theta. He met and married his wife Marcia while in college, and upon graduation, they moved to Brownwood for Freddie’s job with the Natural Resource Conservation Service.
For the next 30 years, Freddie and Marcia moved around for his various assignments with the NRCS. They lived in Sterling City, Eldorado, Big Spring, Temple and Athens, GA. Freddie was assistant state conservationist in both Texas and Georgia and he served on the NRCS National Staff.
Freddie and Marcia had two sons, Adam and Marcus. As soon as the boys were old enough to join 4-H, they began what would be a long and successful career of showing lambs with 4-H and FFA. Freddie and his family made friends showing lambs across the country and became renowned showmen. Freddie’s oldest grandchild, Kate, started showing lambs in 2020. Freddie thoroughly enjoyed resuming this family pastime, reconnecting with old friends and watching his grandchildren continue the family tradition.
Freddie had a wide range of interests over the years, from competitive skeet shooting to piloting small planes, to training and competing with bird dogs and border collies. He was a past member of the Bowie Rotary Club and Young Farmers. He was involved in the 1986 Centennial Wagon Train visit to Nocona, where his committee provided a meal for 5,000 people in the community. He was also a member of the Nocona United Methodist Church.
Freddie and Marcia retired to his family home in Montague in 2003. Freddie’s definition of retirement was to establish new businesses in real estate and oil and gas. He was a lifelong cattleman and enjoyed few things more than parking in the pasture and watching his cattle. He became a proficient pond master of his two fishing lakes, and he and Marcia recently enjoyed going on a few alligator hunts. He was an expert griller and kept meticulous notes on his briskets and prime ribs.
Freddie is best known for his ability to have fun. He worked hard and liked to enjoy the fruits of his labor with friends and family. He and Marcia loved attending Texas Country Music festivals with friends and traveling in their motorcoach. They were some of the first members of Nocona Nights, which brings music entertainers from across Texas to Nocona for monthly concerts.
He is preceded in death by his parents, Fred and Lucille Foster Williams; brother, Danny Williams; aunt, Hazel Williams Johnson; parents-in-law, John and Betty Clark and his brother-in-law, Brent.
Freddie is survived by his wife, Marcia; sons, Adam and wife, Brandi, Denton, Marcus and wife, Lindsay, Fort Worth; grandchildren, Kate and Owen; sisters-in-law, Barb Williams, Amarillo and Diane Callahan and husband, Kim, San Diego, CA and brother-in-law, the Rev. Blair Clark and wife, Kimberly, Summerfield, FL.
Freddie and his family are eternally appreciative of the 33 years he thrived after his kidney transplant. Donations in Freddie’s name can be made to the National Kidney Foundation.
Arrangements entrusted to the White Family Funeral Home of Bowie.
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