Mary L. Williams
Mary Louise Williams was born July 26, 1933 near Mulhall, Oklahoma. She was the first of four children
born to John Clifton “Cliff” Williams and Minnie Grundmann Williams. Mary grew up on the
family farm in the vicinity of Coyle and Mulhall. After attending Vassar School near her home, she graduated
from Coyle High School in 1950, where she served as class secretary.
Mary then followed a path established by her mother, aunts Edith Gertrude Williams Kitchen (B.S. 1926),
Marie Grundmann, and Louise Grundmann Cunningham (B.S. 1949, M.S. 1952), and uncles Cecil Brown Williams
(B.A. 1926, M.S. 1927), Carl Quentin Williams (B.S. 1929), and Clarence Theodore “Ted” Williams
(B.S. 1935). She enrolled at Oklahoma A&M College, now OSU.
During her first year on campus Mary lived in Murray Hall, the official dormitory for freshman women.
Then she moved to Willard Hall, where she lived on the second floor until her graduation in 1954 with
a degree in business education from the School of Commerce, now the College of Business Administration.
While at OAMC, Mary was active in the Future Teachers Association.
After graduation Mary taught business education in Eureka, Kansas, for more than a year and then worked
as a secretary for a CPA in Stillwater and in a bank in Oklahoma City. In 1964 she began serving as
administrative assistant to Sheldon Coleman, president and chief executive officer of The Coleman Company
in Wichita. She was active in professional secretarial organizations, becoming a Certified Professional
Secretary (CPS) in 1966. Eventually she became corporate secretary and served on the company’s
Board of Directors. Mary retired in 1988 after 24 years at Coleman.
While living in Wichita, Mary’s love of the arts continued to develop. She participated in activities
dedicated to music and art, and her love for reading caused her to collect a wide spectrum of books.
She was an avid collector of crystal and china tableware, crystal and pewter cat figurines, a variety
of Christmas ornaments, and wooden carvings. To assist others who were pursuing a career similar to
her own, she taught evening classes at Wichita State University to help them prepare for the CPS exam.
Her peers selected her to be the first president of the Executive Secretaries International (ESI), Wichita
chapter, and she represented them in many national activities.
Throughout the years, Mary continued to have strong ties to the university through her family. She
was followed to OSU by her brothers John (B.S. 1960) and Jim Williams (B.S. 1962) and her sister Ann
Marie Williams Benson (B.S. 1968, M.S. 1972, Ed.D. 1978). Each married a fellow OSU student who graduated
with at least two degrees. In addition, all of Mary’s nephews, niece and their spouses have attended
or graduated from OSU, including Mary’s youngest nephew who started his freshman year at OSU in
August.
Mary spent her retirement years in Edmond where she continued to pursue her various collections and
her love for travel. While in Wichita, she took eighteen trips to countries abroad. Using these experiences
as a basis, she completed courses in travel in hopes of eventually leading groups in overseas travel.
She also was a member of Zion Lutheran Church in Guthrie where she served as member and officer of the
church council as well as a volunteer. Mary died September 29, 1994 in Stillwater.
In her will, the former Willard Hall resident and member of a multi-generation OSU family left a generous
bequest to the OSU Library. This gift has provided a permanent
endowment as well as furniture and equipment
for the Curriculum Materials Library, which has been renamed the Mary L. Williams Curriculum Materials
Library in her honor.
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