Polly Wilson Williams passed away on May 16 at Greenfield Assisted Living Facility in Oak Ridge.

She was born on March 9, 1923, in Sylva, N.C., the daughter of Luetta Buchanan Wilson and Thomas Oscar Wilson, both now deceased. She was named for her maternal grandmother, Cordelia Allen Buchanan, but when she was nine months old. her father started calling her “Polly.”

She was the sixth child in a family of eight, and she told wonderful stories of how her family worked hard to stay together after losing their father at a young age. Her hometown of Sylva, N.C. held a special place in her heart, and she enjoyed frequent visits there throughout her life.

She attended Western Carolina College in Cullowhee, N.C., and in February 1941, she was married to Claude C. “Red” Williams, from the nearby town of Bryson City, N.C. They moved to Oak Ridge in the early 1940s, where they lived until 1946. [Read more…]