Phyllis Sturdivant Williamson

Phyllis Sturdivant
Williamson passed away on
Saturday, July 25, 2026, in
Comfort, Texas.
Phyllis was born on
Thursday, May 16, 1940, in
Gladewater, Texas. She and
her family moved to Vernon,
Texas in the summer of 1944,
where they lived in an oil
camp north of Vernon. She
attended and graduated from Northside Highschool
in 1958. She married Donny Williamson on
November 22, 1958, in the First Baptist Church of
Vernon.
Industrious to the core, Phyllis worked in the
insurance field, owned her own insurance agency
until 2001, and remained active with sales into her
early eighties. She also had a passion for animals,
and loved to support FFA students, often buying their
goats if they didn’t sell. She and Donny purchased a
farm north of Plano TX in 1983 and spent most of
their free time raising pet horses, goats and cattle.
Though diminutive, Phyllis was fearless. She
played high school basketball and loved to tell the
story of how an opponent’s errant elbow gave her a
black eye that she proudly sported in family photos.
Whether it was horses, ATVs or even the occasional
camel, Phyllis was determined to ride it.
She was a generous soul with a lifelong mission to
feed everyone that came by, whether that was mason
jars of homemade soup or offering the nursing home
staff a coke or a bag of chips. She adored cooking
her time-honored recipes, especially for holidays
with family, and her tree always had enough
Christmas ornaments to rival Rockefeller Center. Her
family will miss her greatly.
Phyllis is survived by her son, Phillip Williamson
and wife Meredith of Bandera, TX, nieces Sarah
White of Cody, WY, Sharon White of Birmingham,
AL, Julie Ray of Dundee, OR, Karen Hosch of Ft.
Worth, TX, and Merle Harris of Stonewall, TX, as
well as numerous grand-nieces and nephews, and her
pet cows. Phyllis is preceded in death by her
husband, Donny Williamson in 2018 and her parents,
Carl and Dora Sturdivant and her sisters Louisa
Pearson, Glenna Fisher, Jane Ward, and Marguerite
White.
The family wishes to express appreciation to the
wonderful caregivers and staff at AVIR at Comfort
Nursing facility, where Phyllis was cared for since
2025.
Graveside services will be held at 10 a.m., Friday,
July 31, 2026, at Eastview Cemetery in Vernon,
Texas under the direction of Sullivan Funeral Home
with Dr. Martin Knox officiating.
Visitation will be from 6 p.m. until 7 p.m.,
Thursday, July 30, 2026, at Sullivan Funeral Home
in Vernon, Texas.
Online condolences may be made to the family at
www.sullivanfuneralhomevernon.com.