Virgil passed away on Sunday, February 11, 2007, at the Garden View Care Center in Shenandoah at the age of 88. Burial will be in the Rose Hill Cemetery in Shenandoah.


Virgil Kenneth Williams, son of John Andrew Williams, Sr. and Effie G. (Hagey) Williams, was born on August 2, 1918, in Burlington Junction, Missouri. He passed away on Sunday, February 11, 2007, at Garden View Care Center in Shenandoah, Iowa, at the age of 88.

His early life was spent in the rural Burlington Junction, Missouri area. The family moved to Shenandoah in 1923. Virgil attended school in Shenandoah, graduating with the Class of 1937.
On June 25, 1941, Virgil was united in marriage to Emma Schoening at St. John's Lutheran Church in Mineola, Iowa. They made their home in Shenandoah and became the parents of one daughter, Nancy.

As a student in Jr. High, Virgil worked at Al Lund's Barber Shop on Saturdays and after school as a shoeshine boy and janitor. In high school he was employed at Brown's Shoe Fit Co. in the Shoe Repair Dept. After graduation he worked at A. L. (Jim) Ahlgren's Chevrolet Garage and Sam Parrott's Garage. In 1942 Virgil and his brother, Russell, entered a business partnership forming "Williams Brothers Garage." Virgil assumed full ownership of the business in 1957, serving as an auto mechanic and car dealer for DeSoto, Plymouth and Chrysler. He remained in the repair business until recent years, when health problems began to slow him down.

Virgil was a member of the Shenandoah Trinity Lutheran Church and Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association. For many years, Virgil was an active member of the Izaak Walton League, enjoying trapshooting and hunting. He was an amateur radio operator with the call letters KOEJO. A life-long interest in flying led him to earn a private pilot's license and purchase his own plane. His ability as a mechanic enabled him to do much of his plane's maintenance himself.

Preceding Virgil in death were his parents; brothers, Floyd, Alvin, Leo, John and Nelson; and sisters, Edna and Jane. Survivors include his wife, Emma, and daughter, Nancy, both of Shenandoah, IA; brothers, Russell and Jesse and his wife Lucille; and sister, Alice, all of Shenandoah, IA. Also surviving are sisters-in-law, Pauline Plautz of Shenandoah, IA, and Leona Schoening of Glenwood, IA; other relatives and many friends.