Obituary of Vermell Williams

Mrs. Vermell Sheffield Williams of Ozark was escorted by angels to be with the Lord Saturday, December 24, 2022. She was 98 years old. Funeral services for Mrs. Williams will be 2:00 P.M. Friday, December 30, 2022, from Ewell Bible Baptist Church with Reverend David Lewis officiating. Interment will follow in Bethel Baptist Church Cemetery in Newton, Holman Funeral Home of Ozark directing. The family will receive friends Friday in the church from 1:00 P.M. until service time. Mrs. Williams was born in Dale County and lived in Ozark and Dale County all of her life except for two years. Her parents were Charlie and Effie Sheffield. Her Dad died when she was 7 years old and her mother had to survive the Great Depression with five young children without a man in the household. Times were very hard; money was non-existent and food was scarce. She had to drop out of school. She worked in the fields or helped with the smaller children at home. Those hard times marked her for life, but she survived. She was frugal and independent. Like her mother, her husband passed away when she was in her thirties, leaving her with three young children to raise alone. For the second time in her life, she was faced hard times, little money and little food without a man in the family, but she survived. She stated many times that she never looked at another man after her husband died. She loved her children and was very protective of them. She worked as a nanny and babysitter to supplement the meager social security checks. All three of her children believed in God, completed high school, attended college, and had successful careers. She would say that God answered her prayers. She was preceded in death by her husband, Murrell Williams: her daughters, Patricia Ann Williams and Linda Sue Harper; two sisters, Mattie Lee Sheffield and Grace Crumwell; two brothers, George Sheffield and Jimmy Herring. Survivors include two sons, Larry (Bessie) Williams of Pace, Florida and Quinton (Cindi) Williams of Panama City Beach, Florida; seven grandchildren, fifteen great-grandchildren and 3 great-great-grandchildren. Many nieces and nephews also survive. The family would like to thank the staff of Ozark Health and Rehabilitation for the care they provided.