Doris Evelyn MATHEWS Married Cecil Alvin WILLIAMS on 3 AUG 1927 in Wray, Yuma County, Colorado, USA.


Printed in the Benkelman, NE Post, January 1981

Doris Evelyn (Mathews) Williams

Doris Evelyn (Mathews) Williams was born on Aug. 3, 1905 to John Ira and Nancy Jane Fetherston Mathews at the farm home in Dundy County, NE, near Hiawatha. She quietly went to be with Jesus Jan. 23, 1981 at the Hester Memorial Home in Benkelman, NE following a long illness at the age of 75 years, 5 months and 20 days.

Doris was the tenth child of a family of eleven children, having five brothers and five sisters, all of whom except one brother have preceded her in death.

She grew to womanhood in the Hiawatha neighborhood. At the age of 18 years, Doris accepted Christ as her personal Savior, and remained true and faithful to Him until the end.

On August 3, 1927, she was united in marriage to Cecil Alvin Williams of the Pleasant Valley community at Wray, CO. To this union were born two daughters and one son: Bonnie, Nancy and Duane. The family lived in the Dundy County area, engaged in farming until the spring of 1938 when Doris and Cecil went into full time pastoral ministry, after having spent about a year of Sunday ministry at the Riverside School south of Benkelman.

They served a little over a year at Elk Valley Friends Church near Waterbury, NE, two years at Dale Friends Church at Enosdale, KS and two years at Red Mound Friends Church near Lewis, KS. In the fall of 1944, the family moved to Haviland, KS where the children attended high school. She spent two years of this time as lunchroom cook at Centerview, KS. In 1946, she opened a cafe in Haviland, which she operated until the fall of 1948 when they moved "back home" to Benkelman, NE where she was employed as a cafe cook. In April of 1949, they suffered the loss of their daughter Nancy who was accidentally gassed near Benkelman, NE.

Doris and Cecil pastored the Pilgrim Holiness Church in Benkelman in 1950, then went into part-time evangelistic work until they accepted the pastorate at Chivington, CO Friends Church in 1953. They served there seven of the ten years with the remainder of the time spent in evangelistic work with the exception of a few months when she operated a cafe in Towner, CO.

In 1963, they moved back to Dundy County, NE where they made their home in Max when they were not in evangelistic meetings. They accepted another pastorate in the summer of 1965 at Mt. Ayr Friends Church near Alton, KS where they served until 1972.

At that time they returned to Chivington, CO to again pastor the meeting there. It was during the pastorate there in August of 1973 that Cecil suffered an accident and passed away. Doris continued there pastoring on a part-time basis until the spring of 1974, when she retired in failing health and returned "home" to Benkelman. In October 1975 she suffered a severe stroke and entered the Hester Memorial Home in January 1976, where she remained until God saw fit to take her to her Heavenly home.

Doris was a kind and loving wife, mother, grandmother, and friend. She lived her life for "others" always putting God first. She was certainly a help-mate for her husband Cecil in the ministry. As well as helping with the preaching she had Scene-O-Felt for the children, and she and Cecil took care of part of the special music. Their ministry took them to several states: Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado, Oklahoma, Texas and Missouri, where they made many lasting friendships and were instrumental leading many souls to Christ.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Cecil; daughter Nancy; four brothers, Charles, Joe, Willard and Clifford; and five sisters, Elva, Olia, Grace, Florence and Martha; one granddaughter, Linda Brozek, and one great-grandson, Kevin Williams.

She is survived by her son, Duane and wife Betty of Benkelman; daughter, Bonnie Brozek and husband Emanuel of Haviland, KS; one brother, Roy Mathews and wife Edna of El Paso, TX; sisters-in-law, Ruth Mathews of Kuna, ID, Florence Mathews of Imperial, NE, Inez Mathews and Irene Gooder of Benkelman, NE; brothers-in-law, Glen Williams and wife Edna of Benkelman, NE and Orval Williams and wife Gretchen of Bakersfield, CA; 13 grandchildren, 30 great grandchildren, numerous nieces and nephews and a host of other relatives and friends.

Services were held Jan. 26, 1981 at 1:30 p.m. in the Jones Funeral Chapel in Benkelman, NE with the Rev. Robert Sander officiating. Organist Mary Baney accompanied Carol and Robert Sander with the selections "Beyond The Sunset" and "The Love Of God".

Bearers were Gene Hansen, Lyle Hansen, Gilbert Nordhausen, Johnny Mayes, Nason Wilson and Bill Osborn.