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 Methodist Hospice & Family Care and AVIR at Comfort Nursing facility, where Phyllis was cared for since 2025.

Graveside services will be held Friday, July 31, 2026, at 10:00 at Eastview Cemetery in Vernon, Texas under the direction of Sullivan Funeral Home with Dr. Martin Knox officiating.

Visitation will be Thursday, July 30, 2026, from 6:00 pm until 7:00 pm at Sullivan Funeral Home in Vernon, Texas.

Memorials can go to the San Antonio Food Bank or the Parkinson's Foundation.