On May 1, 2020, at Asbury Methodist Village, God opened the gates of heaven and welcomed a new angel, Thelma Bernice Williams. Bernice was born in Hyattstown, Maryland, October 26, 1918, to the late Oliver and Mida Gray; and was the eleventh of eighteen children. She was educated in the Montgomery County Public School system, and relocated to the District of Columbia (DC) in 1938.
On January 22, 1946, she married Louis Augustus Williams, a union that lasted 54 years. Bernice was preceded in death by her husband, Louis, her daughter, Bridgette Minnet Williams, and sixteen brothers and sisters.
Bernice was employed at the Naval Medical Center from 1941 through 1946. She converted to Catholicism in 1940, and was a life-long member of Saint Augustine Catholic Church in Washington, DC. She joined the Augustine Sodality in 1950. She loved spending time with family, friends, and church members. Friends of her beloved 9th Street neighborhood tell stories of her independent spirit, her long walks around Northwest DC, and her desire to be amongst people and friends. Later in life, she became the family historian, and she could hold court for hours providing little-known facts on Gray family genealogy, good and bad!
Bernice leaves, to cherish her memory, a sister, Ianthia Gray of Ijamsville, MD; and a host of nieces, nephews, and many friends.
This “heart” has ascended home to the Father and He will wipe away every tear.
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