Wrentham Obituary: Howard Augustus Williams, 87

Editor's Note: The following obituary was submitted to Patch.

Howard Augustus Williams, 87, of Wrentham and longtime resident of Sharon, went home to be with the Lord on Oct. 20, 2012. 

He was the beloved husband of Frankie Alan (Younginer) Williams, to whom he was married on June 24, 1945.  Born in Harrogate, Tennessee, on Dec. 29, 1924, he was a son of the late C.P. and A.G. (McCamy) Williams. He enlisted in the United States Army and served as a scout in the infantry (with a job description of draw fire) in France and Germany during the Second World War.  After the war he graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and went to work briefly for Burlington Mills before moving north to Arlington, Massachusetts, to attend Harvard Business School, where he earned a master's in business administration.

For 25 years, he worked as an executive for New England Mutual Life Insurance Company in Boston, serving in several capacities including Investment Officer, Treasurer, and Senior Vice President. After leaving New England Life, he began a second career as an academic. He taught business courses at Barrington College in Barrington, R.I., and later was a professor of business at Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy, and served as chair of the Business Department before retiring. He served on a number of boards of directors, including Amtrol Corporation in West Warwick, R.I., and the YMCA of Boston. 

He was one of the founders of the Evangelical Baptist Church of Sharon and an active member for many years. Later he became a member of Grace Episcopal Church in Norwood, where he helped to start a local chapter of Young Life.  Recently he was a member of Trinity Episcopal Church of Wrentham. 

In addition to his beloved wife Frankie, he is survived by his children, January Williams and his wife Susan of Salem, Oregon; Patricia Holloway and her husband Richard of Chester, Connecticut; Timothy Williams and his wife Margaret of Sharon; and Susan Woods and her husband Mark of Cambridge; and his five grandchildren. 

Relatives and friends are invited to attend a memorial service on Saturday, November 3, at 2 p.m., at Trinity Episcopal Church, Rt. 140, in Wrentham (just east of Rt. 1A).  In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in his memory to Young Life, 314 North St., Walpole, MA 02081 (bostonsouthwest.younglife.org), or to Habitat for Humanity (habitat.org).