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NEWSOMS — The Rev. Kenneth Wayne Williams Sr., 84, longtime Baptist minister, passed away on May 16, 2020, in his home surrounded by his family.

He was a native of Skippers, Virginia, in Greensville County, a son of the late Thomas Rowe Williams and Rachel Allen Williams, and was also predeceased by four siblings, Billy (Wimp) Williams, Barbara Dean Little, Freddie Williams and Dottie Williams.

The Rev. Williams was a 1954 graduate of Greensville County High School, served in the Virginia National Guard for seven years and was a member of the Newsoms Ruritan Club. He graduated from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, North Carolina. Rev. Williams was the former minister of Fountain Grove Baptist Church in Emporia and the minister at Newsoms Baptist Church and Sunbeam Baptist Church for 25 years. He was also the supply minister at Burdette Baptist Church.

He was a former employee of the Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company (A&P) in Emporia for 16 years and Franklin for 12 years.

Rev. Williams loved family, a good joke and spending time in his yard. Even when sick, he lit up when one of his grandchildren walked into the room. His eyes twinkled when he told a joke. He was generous with love and laughter. A good and faithful servant of Christ is now walking the streets of gold, rejoicing with his Savior.
Left to cherish his memory are his wife of 64 years, Shirley Edge Williams; three daughters, Nancy Jenkins (Whitey) of Conway, North Carolina, Kathie Isles (Bobby) of Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina and Penny Lee Baugham (Lynn) of Boykins; one son, Kenneth Wayne Williams Jr. (LeeAnn) of Courtland; one brother, Eddie Williams (JoAnn) of Emporia; eight grandchildren, Jamie Lynch (Courtney), Rob Jenkins (Donna), Abby Dalton (Jason), Carly Shanahan (Charlie), Kevin Drake, Cole Lucas, Jessi Kate Lucas and Rachel Sappenfield (Jimmy); 10 great-grandchildren, Dru and Gracie Lynch, Meghan, Matthew and Noah Dalton, Dylan and Sheppard Shanahan, Kyle and Keegan Drake, London Scott; and nieces and nephews.

Memorial donations can be made to Burdette Baptist Church, Sunbeam Baptist Church, Newsoms Baptist Church or Fountain Grove Baptist Church.

A funeral will be on Sunday, May 24, at 3 p.m., in Newsoms Baptist Church with the Rev. Thomas Wallace and the Rev. David Johnson officiating. Burial will follow in Hollywood Cemetery.

Friends are welcome at the residence.

www.wrightfuneralhome.org.