W. M. Williams, Jr. (Buck) , 90, of Center, passed away at his home, surrounded by his loving family on August 26, 2014.

Visitation will be held from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., Thursday, August 28, 2014 at Watson & Sons Funeral Home in Center. Funeral service will be held at 2:00 p.m., Friday, August 29, 2014 at Watson & Sons Chapel with Rev. Joel McMahon officiating. Interment will follow at Oaklawn Memorial Park in Center.

W. M. Williams, Jr. (Buck) was born in Shelby County on December 21, 1923, to Walter Williams and Willie Ada Muckleroy Williams. He graduated from Center High School in 1941 and went into the U. S. Navy for six years and returned to Center as a disabled veteran. He got his Bachelor's degree from Stephen F. Austin University in Nacogdoches, Texas and taught for two years at Carthage High School.

He met Melba Grimsley in 1948 and it was definitely "love at first sight", and they were married on September 2 of the same year. They will have been married sixty-six years in September of 2014. Buck and Melba were married in the First Christian Church in Center, where Buck was chairman of the board for many years. He was a charter member of the Center Country Club and served as president several times. For many years, he was the oldest member playing golf.

In August of 1953, the Atlas Plywood Corporation came to Center, and Buck was the first employee hired by that company. He had an "office", a building 12x12 that had one door and no windows. He was with the "plywood mill" until 1993. He survived six sell-outs and remained forty years with the company. He retired in 1993 with the title of general manager.

In December of 2003, Buck went back to work with his lifetime friend, James Campbell, at General Shelters and Campbell's Portable Buildings. He had agreed to work for six months, but he stayed for six years and again retired in September of 2010 to his home on Highway 96 where he has lived since that time. During his illness he remained in his home, receiving loving care from his family who were always there for him.

Buck is survived by his beloved family: His wife, Melba Grimsley Williams; his daughter, Montie Dawson of Longview, Texas; his son, Todd Williams and wife, Donna of Weatherford, Texas; one granddaughter, Lindsey Dawson of Fort Worth, Texas; three grandsons: Austin Williams and Garrett Williams of Weatherford, Texas and Stephen Tinkle and wife, Gabreala of Bryan, Texas. His two great-grandchildren are Ilsa Tinkle and Stocker Tinkle of Bryan, Texas. Buck had eight brothers and sisters, but only two brothers survive, Banks Williams and wife, Dorothy, of Montgomery, Texas, and Lowell Williams and wife, Karen, of Longview, Texas. He is also survived by three sisters-in-law: Betty Williams of Longview, Betty Grimsley of Center and Irene Grimsley of Winnsboro, Texas.

One of Buck's greatest sorrows was losing one grandson, six-year-old Shane Tinkle, in an accident on Highway 96 in the year 1978; he was the son of Montie Williams and Steve Tinkle.

In Buck's family are fifty surviving nieces and nephews who will serve as honorary pallbearers, and his special friends make up the active pallbearer list. They are Rick Campbell, Jason Covington, Johnny Covington, David Ginn, Steve Tinkle, Charles and Martha Rushing, David and Angela Koonce, Retha Starkey, Derek Pierce, and Joe West.

A special thank you goes to Joel McMahon and Chris Watlington, the pastor and music director at the First United Methodist Church as well as to all the members whom Buck was proud to call his "church family". Also a special word of gratitude goes to a special friend and cousin who lives just up the road, whose employees would come and lift Buck from the floor each time he fell. Thanks, Weldon.