Jean Williams, Starkville volunteer, dedicated member of First United Methodist Church and famous usher at Mississippi State basketball games, died Sunday.
She was 88.
Williams — known to neighborhood children as “Granny Jean” — was well known around Starkville and particularly MSU, not only for her outgoing personality and volunteer work, but for her decades-long service as an usher at MSU basketball and football games.
Her high school’s salutatorian during World War II, Williams gave up a business college scholarship to serve as teletype operator and bookkeeper at Greenwood (Mississippi) Air Force Base during the war. After the war, she worked at the MSU Controller’s Office and later at Mitchell Memorial Library Dean’s Office on the MSU campus.
Williams was a dedicated fan of Mississippi State.
Her son, Johnny Williams, told The Dispatch his mother wore maroon and white everyday. Her daughter, Charlotte Register, said that even after Williams retired from her MSU job at the age of 80, she kept volunteering at games. Johnny Williams said she never missed a home game.
As for away games, her daughter, Rebecca Bock, said: “She had the T.V. on with the game on and she had the radio going at the same time. She wanted to hear it and see it.”
Register said if she called her mother and a game happened to be on, her mother would sometimes tell her they would have to talk later.
“Her basketball family came first sometimes but never at the inconvenience of us,” Register said.
But it wasn’t just Williams’ love of Mississippi State that her family and acquaintances remember.
Bock called Williams “caring, giving and loving.”
“She was a people person,” added Register. “And she had only good vibes about everyone. She never thought anything bad of anybody.”
“She never met a stranger,” Johnny Williams said. “Or if she did, they weren’t a stranger long.”
It was this people-loving quality that made her a good usher at MSU games, along with her basketball knowledge and love of MSU sports, according to Jay Logan, the director of Humphrey Coliseum/Basketball Game Management at Mississippi State.
In addition to helping people to their seats, Williams was close to the players, and to members of the women’s basketball team in particular. Logan recalled Williams standing diligently at her post in the stands waving her arms.
She always stood on the sidelines cheering along players — and also, said Logan with a chuckle, never hesitating to let the referees know when they’d made a bad call.
“People coming to the games (from now on) will notice her absence,” Logan said.
“She became a fixture out there,” Johnny Williams said.
For Jean Williams, working as an usher was more than a volunteer position. Her son said Mississippi State was her second family. She had special parking at games. The athletic department made special arrangements for her to attend football games.
Bock said her mother was particularly close to the women’s basketball team.
“She was a basketball player in high school and that was the love of her life,” Bock said.
Williams knew the players’ names, where they were from, their numbers and their stats. She kept up with them even after they left MSU.
“She loved them all,” said Bock.
Last night at the MSU women’s basketball game in Starkville, Williams’ usual seat was empty except for a rose in her honor.
Williams’ funeral took place Wednesday at the First United Methodist Church in Starkville. Bock said it was clear from the sentiments expressed at the ceremony that Williams will be missed by the community that she served and was a part of for so long.
“She was irreplaceable,” Bock said.
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