Mary Sylvia "Sibby" Williams

• Mary Sylvia “Sibby” Williams

Sibby was born in Indianapolis, Indiana on December 9, 1925 to Mary Roy and William Johnson. She was raised in Indianapolis and spent summers on the family farm in Fairmount with her two brothers, J. Barclay Johnson and William Hilton Johnson & one sister, Janet Johnson McGrew. (all deceased). She left to attend Earlham College before graduating from Purdue University.

At Purdue, Sibby met Bryce Williams and they were married in September 1947. They lived in Lafayette until Bryce was recruited to work in Houston for Brown and Root, a design and construction firm. All three of their children were born in Houston, Carole, Steve and Donna. Bryce and Sibby were married for thirteen years before divorcing in 1960.

Sibby loved her family and worked hard to keep them safe and healthy. Her career included work as a food service director at Ethel Corporation and then as a home economist for Riverbrand Rice. In the early 1960’s, she developed instant rice pudding recipes that modern homemakers used to make dinner more efficiently.

Later she managed the First Methodist Church of Houston’s catering kitchen and planned receptions for weddings and other church functions. While working for the Methodist Hospital she obtained her dietician’ license. She became the lead dietician at the Gulf Coast Medical Center and moved the family to Wharton, Texas.

Following her mother’s death in 1964, she moved back to Indiana to be near her father and family where she worked as the director at the Student Health Center at Purdue University. Sibby then worked at the Indiana State Soldiers Home. She made one more move to South Bend, Indiana. She obtained employment at the Berrien Springs Hospital in Michigan.

Sibby began an early retirement and moved back to Houston where she was active in church activities. She returned to Indiana briefly and then moved to Virginia to be near her new grandson, Christopher Brown. She took art classes and learned to paint.

She remained in Virginia for several years, before moving to Ingleside at Rock Creek. During her days in assisted living she played bridge, painted and visited more elderly residents. She especially liked the outings to the bookstore, Politics and Prose. She passed away at Ingleside in Washington. D.C. on May 8, 2023 at age 97.

Surviving her are her two daughters, Carole Williams Brown (Walter Brown), Donna Jean Williams and three grandchildren, Christopher Brown (Robin Colaninno), Susannah Brown (Ben West) and Jameson Williams and two great grandchildren Theo Brown and Samuel Brown.

There will be a graveside memorial service at Park Cemetery in Fairmount, Indiana at 1:00 pm on June 24, 2023. A short time of visitation will be at Armes-Hunt Funeral Home and Cremation Services, 415 S. Main Street, Fairmount, Indiana at 12 Noon before the memorial service.

Memories and condolences may be shared at www.armeshuntfuneralhome.com