Philip "Phil" Rodney Williams

Philip "Phil" Rodney Williams, of Round Rock and Groesbeck, went home to be with the Lord on Sunday, October 14, 2012. Phil passed away at St. David’s Hospital in Round Rock after a brief illness, at age 67. Visitation will be Tuesday, October 16, 2012, from 6:00 to 8:00 P.M. at the Groesbeck Funeral Home. Funeral Services will be held at 2:00 P.M. on Wednesday, October 17, 2012, at the Groesbeck Funeral Home Chapel, with Reverend Tracy Sims of the Central Baptist Church of Thornton and Brother Richard Williams of the Church of Christ in Groesbeck officiating. Burial will follow in Faulkenberry Cemetery. Pallbearers will be Gregg Gassiott, Shawn Burkeen, Mark Davidson, Tommy Phillips, Troy Waddle, Kyle Hughes, Jason Williams, and Tory Odem. Honorary pallbearers will be his friends from Mary’s Round Table and his Bass Club friends. Phil was born September 27, 1945 to Reginald Alvis Williams and Willie Aleen (Magee) Williams in Mexia. He graduated from Groesbeck High School, Class of 1964. He attended Navarro Junior College and James Connally Technical Institute training in electronics and instrumentation. Later, while working, he continued his education and received a Bachelor of Liberal Science degree in management from St. Edwards University in Austin in 1993. Phil was united in marriage with Sandra Kay Kennedy on November 29, 1969 in Groesbeck. Phil started working for Texas Instruments in Houston and worked his way from the ground up to Regional Marketing Manager of the Western United States before his retirement. Most of his career with T.I. was as an instructor in the T.I. Training Center, first in Houston and then in Austin, training customers and employees in computer hardware. The family moved to Round Rock in 1977 when he began working in Austin. After 23 years at Texas Instruments, the Austin plant closed and Phil refused to leave Texas to work in another state. He left T.I. and began a new career with Dell Computers at the “Dell University” in Austin, where he trained customers as well as employees in computer hardware. He travelled extensively with Dell, helping Dell spread into Southeast Asia, training the people who would sell the computers. Since Phil never met a stranger, he used his winning personality and Texas accent to make Dell’s foreign customers feel at ease. Phil packed a lot of living in his adult life. He was active in Bass Tournaments and President of the T.I. Bass Club, and member of the River City Bass Club of Austin. He taught many adults, kids, and especially his son the love of fishing, hunting, and the great outdoors. He fished all over Central and South Texas, with his favorite site being Lake Falcon on the Mexico border. He also loved to garden, and he raised tomatoes, peas, and other vegetables in Groesbeck, as he learned from his father. Phil was most proud of the redevelopment of the Fish Hook Ranch on Baines Creek which has been in Kay’s family since 1832. He always considered Groesbeck his real home, where they also had a house in town. He loved working at the ranch and planning his cattle operation which he had started three years ago. He had big plans for his retirement and their move back home. Phil was a member of the First Methodist Church of Round Rock. He deeply loved his family, and their eight granddaughters. Phil was preceded in death by his parents, Reg and Aleen Williams, and his father-in-law and mother-in-law, Tandy and Melba Kennedy. He is survived by his wife, Kay Williams of Round Rock; son and daughter-in-law, Brian and Laurel Williams of Austin; daughter and son-in-law, Kelly and Brian Powell of Round Rock; eight granddaughters: Kaylee Aamodt, Alexis Aamodt, Brianna Powell, Amaris Powell, and Carli Powell of Round Rock, and Annsley Williams, Mackenzie Williams, and Emery Williams of Austin; brother and sister-in-law, Stanley and Orma Williams of Groesbeck; sister, Martha Johnson of Thornton; sister and brother-in-law, Debra and Randy Franklin of Thornton; sister and brother-in-law, Jana and David Burkeen of Groesbeck; sister-in-law and brother-in-law, Carolyn and David Hughes of Groesbeck; and many nieces and nephews. For anyone wishing to make memorial donations, the family suggests the American Cancer Society, the Methodist Mission Home in San Antonio (6487 Whitby Rd, San Antonio, TX 78240) or Marywood (1625 Rutherford Lane, Austin, TX 78754.)