Lilly May Williams

Lilly May Williams, 68, of Berrien Springs, died Sunday, Nov. 22, 2020, at Hanson Hospice Center in Stevensville.

Friends may visit from 4-8 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 29, at Allred Funeral Home in Berrien Springs, and again from 8-10 a.m. Monday, Nov. 30, at the Village Seventh-day Adventist Church in Berrien Springs, where she attended regularly for the past few years. The funeral service will be at 10 a.m., with burial to follow in Rose Hill Cemetery. Messages may be left online at www.allredfuneralhome.com.

Lilly was born Feb. 25, 1952, in Mandeville, Manchester, Jamaica, to Noel Wesley Patrickson and Amy Caroline (Gooden) Patrickson. Her professional career included being an accountant at West Indies College (Northern Caribbean University) and chief accountant at Andrews Memorial Hospital. She also served as chief accountant, then assistant treasurer for a combined tenure of 15 years for the West Indies Union Conference (Jamaica Union of Seventh-day Adventists).

She accompanied her husband to Berrien Springs in 1993, where he was a student at the Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary. Lilly continued denominational service at Andrews University in 1994 as bookkeeper/accountant at the James White Library (JWL). Following the untimely death of her husband, Oswald Sr., in 1996, Lilly combined single parenting with graduate education and successfully completed her Master’s degree in accounting at LaSalle University in 1998. In 2002 Lilly began her 18 years of service at Adventist Frontier Missions (AFM) as the mail clerk, where she interfaced with donors and missionaries in the field. Lilly later rejoined the James White Library where she worked as a periodical associate for the past 11 years.

Lilly loved her work and treasured the friendships she formed both at AFM and JWL. She enjoyed gardening, especially growing flowers, cooking and watching cooking shows and all good things Jamaican. She had a close relationship with God and never lost faith as she walked through the various valleys of life and death.

She is survived by two sons: Oswald George Williams II and Matthew George Williams; two sisters: Pauline Rose Phillip and Dorothy Evangeline Patrickson; and one brother, John Wesley Patrickson. She was preceded in death by her husband and her parents. Many friends, relatives and colleagues also mourn her passing.