Larry Earl Williams passed away peacefully on November 3, 2023.

A son of the late Charles Williams and Genievive (Doyle) Williams, Larry was born on September 16, 1946, in Fort Worth, Texas.

Upon completion of his Ph.D. in Sociology in 1976, at Brigham Young University, Dr. Williams was hired as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology at Midwestern State University (MSU). He moved on up through the ranks at MSU being promoted to Associate Professor and receiving Tenure in 1981, and achieved promotion to Full Professor in 1986. Upon his arrival at MSU, he established a reputation as a rigorous teacher, yet caring and supportive of all his many students. He was widely known for his humor and creativity, not only in the classroom, but with his colleagues in the department and across the campus. One of his favorite classes that he developed was Applied Sociology, which was required of all Sociology majors. Dr. Williams was always concerned with the ability of students to do well in their chosen fields and also to be well prepared for the challenges of life in general. Students to this day will recount the impact of that class on their lives and have kept their required journals for reference. Also, during this time at MSU, Dr. Williams was an active publisher in professional journals and made many presentations at professional meetings. He also held membership in numerous professional organizations and was an active participant in several community organizations. He was particularly proud of his work with Hospice of Wichita Falls, which was very much a part of the Death and Dying class he taught at MSU.

One of Dr. Williams' greatest accomplishments, and one for which he was the proudest and for which he is widely known and remembered, was his development of MSU's Study Abroad Program. This journey began in 1985, when he was first informed about a study abroad program in London offered through another university. He was intrigued by the possibilities for MSU, and in 1986, he began MSU's participation in this study abroad program in London with one class of six students. By 1989, MSU was the top participating school in this consortium. In 2004, Dr. Williams established MSU's own study abroad program apart from the original consortium. From that point on, Dr. Williams brought on several other universities as participants and developed study abroad opportunities not only in London but in France, Spain and Mexico. Dr Williams fought hard, particularly during some tough budget years, to keep the program affordable and to provide scholarships for student participants. By the time of his retirement from MSU in 2015, more than 1,000 students had participated in the Study Abroad Program, along with 75 faculty members from MSU and from MSU's consortium schools. In the summer of 2022, Dr. Williams was honored at a reception in London recognizing his outstanding leadership in developing, supporting and sustaining MSU's Study Abroad Program. In attendance were current and former student participants, faculty who taught in the program, as well as those interested in becoming a part of this program. Further, upon his retirement in 2015, Dr. Williams was awarded Emeritus Status by Midwestern State University's Board of Regents in recognition of service to the MSU community.

Larry was loved by many, but if one thing was certain, he loved his family with all his heart. Not only was he a family man, he was also known for his constant kind heartedness towards others, jokes that never seemed to get old, as well as his great sense of generosity and compassion. He enjoyed playing golf with his friends, spending time with family and loved to travel the world.

Larry always gave the best insight. Anything you wanted to talk about, he would always actively listen with genuine interest. You could always count on Larry to lend an ear and his favorite past time was "chatting up" everyone he met.

Along with his parents he was also preceded in death by his brother, Charles Williams.

He is survived by his loving wife, Gay Williams; son, Jason Axe and wife Belinda; his "best buddy boy" and grandson Braden J. Axe; and fur babies Sophie and Cinnamon.

A celebration of life will be held at a later time to be announced.

Donations can be made to Hospice of Wichita Falls.