Larry Earl Williams, 73: Navy vet specialized in turbine repair

Larry Williams picked cotton as soon as he was old enough to carry a sack.

In 1955, he knew he had to leave Walton County, and he made the Navy his ticket at 17. He spent 20 years in the military, a period in which he helped build the USS John F. Kennedy, making him a "plank owner." He served on the USS Yorktown, USS Independence and the USS Newport News, among others.

Donald Davis, a family friend, joined the Navy the same time as Mr. Williams.

"We took a train from Atlanta to San Diego, Calif.," he said. "We couldn't wait to get out in Texas to see the desert. We'd go to sleep in the desert and wake up in it. It seemed like it took three days just to get through it."

After his military service, he founded Williams Turbine Service, Inc., a one-man operation that specialized in repairing rotary engines. He maintained the business out of his home when he and his wife, Elaine, moved to Oxford nearly 30 years ago.

Today, "People are still calling and asking for his services," said a daughter, Cristal Williams of Madison.  "We don't know what we're going to do with the business."

On Aug. 22, Larry Earl Williams of Oxford died from complications of throat cancer at Abbey Hospice in Social Circle. He was 73. The Navy will bury him at sea.

Mr. Williams was born in the Walton County community of Bold Springs. Enlistment in the Navy took him to California, his first trip out of state. He was stationed in Norfolk, Va., when he proposed to Elaine, a Monroe native and his wife of more than 50 years. The majority of his military career was spent at sea.

"In his den, he had pictures of all the ships he'd been on, and it was quite a few,"  said Mr. Davis of Oconee County. "He went through the grades and became a master chief, and while on the different ships he worked on the turbines and whatever."

At 37, Mr. Williams retired from the military and returned to Walton County.  There, he put his military skills to use  with Williams Turbine Service, Inc. Plant managers across the southeast called on the car and gun collector when they had turbine failure. Often they'd fly him to their operations.

And when he got too old to turn the wrenches, they'd still hire him to watch over the work of others, his daughter said.

"He retired from the military, but he never retired from fixing turbines," she said. "When he was diagnosed with cancer four years ago, he continued to work after his treatment. He went out on jobs up to two years ago and three months ago was still selling parts over the phone."