Tina Williams, 99, mountain lover

Tina Williams’ family tended gardens and raised hogs and chickens in East Tennessee.

Friends and relatives who visited her family in Jones Cove, near Gatlinburg, didn’t leave hungry. It was a tradition Mrs. Williams brought to Atlanta. Her home-cooked dishes didn’t disappoint, said her daughter, Wilma Adams of Conyers. Mrs. Williams was known for biscuits, German chocolate cake and fried chicken.

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Tina Williams worked in the retail audit department at Sears for 25 years.

“I would watch her fry chicken, and I still couldn’t get mine to taste like hers,” her daughter said. “She was a wonderful cook.”

Tina Shepherd Williams, 99, of Conyers died Friday from complications of heart failure at the Azalea Gardens Nursing Home in Conyers. The graveside service is 11 a.m. Tuesday at Fairview Memorial Gardens & Mausoleum in Stockbridge. Horis A. Ward Fairview Chapel & Memorial Gardens is in charge of arrangements.

Mrs. Williams was five months shy of 100. Her daughter attributes her longevity to the food she grew up on and ate throughout her life. Even though she and Jay, her late husband, moved to Atlanta more than 70 years ago, Mrs. Williams’ heart belonged to the mountains. Her love for the region was passed on to two sons and a daughter who spent summers there.

“She loved Tennessee and I had the same sentiments for the area as she did,” her daughter said. “I loved to go up there. We’d walk the mountains, and we had a swimming hole.”

For decades, the Williamses lived off McDonough Boulevard, near the Atlanta Federal Penitentiary. Mr. Williams worked as a corrections officer nearly three decades. Before that, he’d been a teacher in East Tennessee. Mrs. Williams had been his student.

“She was out of school when they got married,” her daughter said. “Daddy told me one time that the first time he saw her, he said, ‘I will marry that girl.’”

For 25 years, Mrs. Williams worked in the retail audit department for Sears. She took the street car or bus to work at the store on Ponce de Leon Avenue and transferred to the West End location. Decades later, after her husband died, Mrs. Williams learned how to drive. “She was 71,” her daughter said.

Mrs. Williams lived in Azalea Gardens for 10 years.

“She did not recognize me the last two years,” Mrs. Adams said. “Everybody in the nursing home, she called Wilma. It was real sad, but God had a reason for keeping her here so long.” Additional survivors include a son, James Williams of Canton; five grandchildren; and 11 great-grandchildren.