Daughter of:
Robert Forrest and Laura McLaurin (Berry) Smith
Wife of Robert Fitzgerald Williams
Mother of entertainer Robin Williams
"Think young and you’ll never grow old,
The years will pass you by,
Birthdays are for merrymaking,
Present giving and birthday caking,
Age is the state of your mind
As the days of your years unfold,
Don’t live in the past,
Right up to the last
Think young and you’ll never grow old."
When she entered a room, she was fond of saying: "Let the joy begin."
Born in 1922 in Jackson, Mississippi and raised in New Orleans, Laurie Williams could captivate any listener with stories of her great-grandfather, Anselm Joseph McLaurin, a Governor and then Senator of Mississippi, and share tales of Southern aristocrats when talking about her father, Robert Armistead Janin, and her mother, Laura McLaurin Berry Janin Smith, but she was far more interested in today's news and not yesterday’s exploits. She laughed easily and often. Her vibrant smile was second only to the twinkle of her blue eyes.
Her life mirrored the rhythm of her times and she had an inexhaustible passion for fashion. During World War II she lived and worked in Washington, D.C. In 1945 she studied lithography at the San Francisco Art institute and in the late 1940's she worked in Chicago as a model at Marshall Field's. She believed that "you can go from a bimbo to a countess with a hat" and that "when you put on something wonderful, you feel wonderful. Then you go out and meet the world head on and say - Hey, I think you’re special. I got all dressed up for you."
In 1950, she married her second husband, Robert Fitzgerald Williams, and they settled in Bloomfield, Michigan where she "got hooked on tennis" with the help of Jean Hoxie, the tennis great who was inducted into the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame in 1965. Laurie and Rob retired in Tiburon in 1967. Widowed in 1987, she remained an active member of both the Belvedere Tennis Club and Harbor Point Racquet and Beach Club.
Another favorite saying was: "See you around campus kids." She is survived by sons McLaurin, Todd, and Robin; grandchildren Zachary, Zelda, and Cody; daughters-in-law Pat, Francine, and Marsha; countless loving friends and admirers. The family respectfully requests that in lieu of flowers, to please consider a donation to Youth Tennis Advantage, Laney Excellence Program: 6001 Shellmound Avenue, Suite #215, Emeryville, CA, 94608; contact Carlton Jones, 510-290-8027.
Provided by: FAGer 48014906
Robert Forrest and Laura McLaurin (Berry) Smith
Wife of Robert Fitzgerald Williams
Mother of entertainer Robin Williams
"Think young and you’ll never grow old,
The years will pass you by,
Birthdays are for merrymaking,
Present giving and birthday caking,
Age is the state of your mind
As the days of your years unfold,
Don’t live in the past,
Right up to the last
Think young and you’ll never grow old."
When she entered a room, she was fond of saying: "Let the joy begin."
Born in 1922 in Jackson, Mississippi and raised in New Orleans, Laurie Williams could captivate any listener with stories of her great-grandfather, Anselm Joseph McLaurin, a Governor and then Senator of Mississippi, and share tales of Southern aristocrats when talking about her father, Robert Armistead Janin, and her mother, Laura McLaurin Berry Janin Smith, but she was far more interested in today's news and not yesterday’s exploits. She laughed easily and often. Her vibrant smile was second only to the twinkle of her blue eyes.
Her life mirrored the rhythm of her times and she had an inexhaustible passion for fashion. During World War II she lived and worked in Washington, D.C. In 1945 she studied lithography at the San Francisco Art institute and in the late 1940's she worked in Chicago as a model at Marshall Field's. She believed that "you can go from a bimbo to a countess with a hat" and that "when you put on something wonderful, you feel wonderful. Then you go out and meet the world head on and say - Hey, I think you’re special. I got all dressed up for you."
In 1950, she married her second husband, Robert Fitzgerald Williams, and they settled in Bloomfield, Michigan where she "got hooked on tennis" with the help of Jean Hoxie, the tennis great who was inducted into the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame in 1965. Laurie and Rob retired in Tiburon in 1967. Widowed in 1987, she remained an active member of both the Belvedere Tennis Club and Harbor Point Racquet and Beach Club.
Another favorite saying was: "See you around campus kids." She is survived by sons McLaurin, Todd, and Robin; grandchildren Zachary, Zelda, and Cody; daughters-in-law Pat, Francine, and Marsha; countless loving friends and admirers. The family respectfully requests that in lieu of flowers, to please consider a donation to Youth Tennis Advantage, Laney Excellence Program: 6001 Shellmound Avenue, Suite #215, Emeryville, CA, 94608; contact Carlton Jones, 510-290-8027.
Provided by: FAGer 48014906
Daughter of:
Robert Forrest and Laura McLaurin (Berry) Smith
Wife of Robert Fitzgerald Williams
Mother of entertainer Robin Williams
"Think young and you’ll never grow old,
The years will pass you by,
Birthdays are for merrymaking,
Present giving and birthday caking,
Age is the state of your mind
As the days of your years unfold,
Don’t live in the past,
Right up to the last
Think young and you’ll never grow old."
When she entered a room, she was fond of saying: "Let the joy begin."
Born in 1922 in Jackson, Mississippi and raised in New Orleans, Laurie Williams could captivate any listener with stories of her great-grandfather, Anselm Joseph McLaurin, a Governor and then Senator of Mississippi, and share tales of Southern aristocrats when talking about her father, Robert Armistead Janin, and her mother, Laura McLaurin Berry Janin Smith, but she was far more interested in today's news and not yesterday’s exploits. She laughed easily and often. Her vibrant smile was second only to the twinkle of her blue eyes.
Her life mirrored the rhythm of her times and she had an inexhaustible passion for fashion. During World War II she lived and worked in Washington, D.C. In 1945 she studied lithography at the San Francisco Art institute and in the late 1940's she worked in Chicago as a model at Marshall Field's. She believed that "you can go from a bimbo to a countess with a hat" and that "when you put on something wonderful, you feel wonderful. Then you go out and meet the world head on and say - Hey, I think you’re special. I got all dressed up for you."
In 1950, she married her second husband, Robert Fitzgerald Williams, and they settled in Bloomfield, Michigan where she "got hooked on tennis" with the help of Jean Hoxie, the tennis great who was inducted into the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame in 1965. Laurie and Rob retired in Tiburon in 1967. Widowed in 1987, she remained an active member of both the Belvedere Tennis Club and Harbor Point Racquet and Beach Club.
Another favorite saying was: "See you around campus kids." She is survived by sons McLaurin, Todd, and Robin; grandchildren Zachary, Zelda, and Cody; daughters-in-law Pat, Francine, and Marsha; countless loving friends and admirers. The family respectfully requests that in lieu of flowers, to please consider a donation to Youth Tennis Advantage, Laney Excellence Program: 6001 Shellmound Avenue, Suite #215, Emeryville, CA, 94608; contact Carlton Jones, 510-290-8027.
Provided by: FAGer 48014906
Robert Forrest and Laura McLaurin (Berry) Smith
Wife of Robert Fitzgerald Williams
Mother of entertainer Robin Williams
"Think young and you’ll never grow old,
The years will pass you by,
Birthdays are for merrymaking,
Present giving and birthday caking,
Age is the state of your mind
As the days of your years unfold,
Don’t live in the past,
Right up to the last
Think young and you’ll never grow old."
When she entered a room, she was fond of saying: "Let the joy begin."
Born in 1922 in Jackson, Mississippi and raised in New Orleans, Laurie Williams could captivate any listener with stories of her great-grandfather, Anselm Joseph McLaurin, a Governor and then Senator of Mississippi, and share tales of Southern aristocrats when talking about her father, Robert Armistead Janin, and her mother, Laura McLaurin Berry Janin Smith, but she was far more interested in today's news and not yesterday’s exploits. She laughed easily and often. Her vibrant smile was second only to the twinkle of her blue eyes.
Her life mirrored the rhythm of her times and she had an inexhaustible passion for fashion. During World War II she lived and worked in Washington, D.C. In 1945 she studied lithography at the San Francisco Art institute and in the late 1940's she worked in Chicago as a model at Marshall Field's. She believed that "you can go from a bimbo to a countess with a hat" and that "when you put on something wonderful, you feel wonderful. Then you go out and meet the world head on and say - Hey, I think you’re special. I got all dressed up for you."
In 1950, she married her second husband, Robert Fitzgerald Williams, and they settled in Bloomfield, Michigan where she "got hooked on tennis" with the help of Jean Hoxie, the tennis great who was inducted into the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame in 1965. Laurie and Rob retired in Tiburon in 1967. Widowed in 1987, she remained an active member of both the Belvedere Tennis Club and Harbor Point Racquet and Beach Club.
Another favorite saying was: "See you around campus kids." She is survived by sons McLaurin, Todd, and Robin; grandchildren Zachary, Zelda, and Cody; daughters-in-law Pat, Francine, and Marsha; countless loving friends and admirers. The family respectfully requests that in lieu of flowers, to please consider a donation to Youth Tennis Advantage, Laney Excellence Program: 6001 Shellmound Avenue, Suite #215, Emeryville, CA, 94608; contact Carlton Jones, 510-290-8027.
Provided by: FAGer 48014906
