Clara Mae Williams
(December 18, 1930 - December 1, 2021)

Clara, was born in Duhring, WV in the height of the depression to Everett and Lillie Taylor on December 30, 1930. Clara was first and foremost a teacher. She grew up on a hillside farm in Duhring, WV near Bramwell, WV. Upon graduation from Bramwell High School she attended Concord College and in 1949 received her teaching certificate and began her 46 year teaching career teaching in a one-room school teaching 1st through 6th grades at Locust Grove Elementary. Her teaching career encompassed every level of education from first grade through college. She taught in Mercer County, Summers County, and Cabell County and also at Bluefield State College.
Clara was the youngest of four children and grew up in Duhring, WV in midst of the height of the depression. Clara was a proud coal miner’s daughter and had a steel spine of resolve that reflected the true Appalachian and West Virginia spirit that you could accomplish anything if you were determined to work harder than anyone else.
Clara met Don, her future husband, while attending Concord College. He just happened to be her roommate’s fiancé and when that relationship soured, he came calling on Clara and they never parted.
After becoming married while Don was in the service during the Korean War, they lived in Palm Beach Florida where Don was stationed. During her time in Palm Beach Clara became Director of the Nursery School at the Bath and Tennis Club in Palm Beach.
They returned to West Virginia and Clara and Don proceeded to pursue their careers as educators. In the meantime they had two sons and while academia continued to be important to them, their principle concern was the rearing of their two boys. Every academic, sporting, and public event that the boys participated in became the central focus of Clara and Don’s lives.
Clara and Don continued to live in Athens, WV as Don coached and taught at Concord College. Clara for a number of years taught kindergarten, taught at Bluefield State, and became an elementary school principal. When Don was offered a job at Marshall in 1972, Clara was hired into the Cabell County school system where she remained until her retirement in 1995.
Clara had a bachelor’s degree from Concord and a master’s degree from Marshall. She was a reading specialist and was highly active in the International Reading Council. Clara served as the President of the West Virginia State Reading Council in 1988-1989 and was President of the Cabell County Reading Council from 1982-1984. In 1989 Clara was the recipient of the Award of Excellence for the West Virginia State Reading Council at the International Reading Council’s Annual meeting in New Orleans.
Clara was a teacher. Clara was a friend. Most importantly, Clara was a wife and a mother.
Clara was a force of nature. She was feisty and did not suffer fools gladly. She let you know when you were exceedingly successful. And she let you know when she thought you weren’t living up to her exacting standards. She taught her sons that leadership was an expectation and anything less than a monumental effort was considered unacceptable.
Clara was preceded in death by her husband of 62 years, Dr. Don Williams.
She was also preceded in death by her mother and father, Everett and Lillie Taylor, one brother the Rev. Dr. Myron J. Taylor, and two sisters, Freda Butt and Marion Fields.
Clara was survived by two sons, Steve (Mary) and Marc (Nancy) each of Huntington. Clara is survived by five grandchildren - Ben (Hillary) Williams of Denver, Alex Spiegelberg and Wyatt Williams each of Huntington. Nikki Reed (Roland) of Fremont, Michigan and Laura Urban of Charlotte, NC.
Clara had a host of nieces, nephews, friends and former students whose love she carried with her through the years and now into her heavenly journey.
The family thanks Dr. Steve Petrany for his steadfast and heartfelt care. The staff at Woodlands were all so amazingly loving and caring. Your care assured that her life was extended years beyond what would have been possible if she had remained in her previous home. We also thank the Emergency Room staff and hospital Chaplains at Cabell Huntington for their determined effort to revive her and the manner in which they made a difficult circumstance tolerable.
Visitation will be held 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, December 4 at Klingel-Carpenter Mortuary.
A funeral service will be held 2 p.m Sunday, December 5, 2021 at Fifth Avenue Baptist Church. Entombment will follow at Spring Hill Cemetery.