Clova B. (Williams) Bates

Clova B. Cornish Williams Bates â�"October 4, 1915 to June 27, 2011. She was born the daughter of Rosa Etta McClure Cornish and Andrew Jackson Cornish in the Nathan community. She was married to the late Charlie Lafayette Williams in 1933. After rearing four children in Nashville, she moved to Magnolia, AR in 1964 and she was employed by Southern Arkansas University as a residence hall supervisor. During those seventeen years, she established lasting relationships with many young men and women who affectionately called her â�œMa Williamsâ₝. Retiring in 1981, she returned to Nashville and spent ensuing years helping others. She was a compassionate trustworthy caregiver for children and for the elderly. In 2002 at the age of 86, having been single for over forty years, she married Cleo Bates of Texarkana, AR who, along with his late wife, had been friends of Clovaâ�™s for many years. They spent six years in Texarkana until Cleoâ�™s death in 2008. Her last three years were spent in Lake Jackson at Carriage Inn Assisted Living Residence near her youngest son Don. During this generative period, she crocheted 24 afghans, expressing her love for her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Clova was a Christian of deep faith. She was the oldest member of Immanuel Baptist Church in Nashville, having been a member there for over fifty years. Clova is survived by her children, Charles E. Williams and his wife Donna of Dickinson, TX; Joe C. Williams and his wife Marilyn of Stuttgart; Martha J. Hinds and her husband Raymond A. of Highland-Stillmeadow, Nashville; Don W. Williams and his wife Anne of Lake Jackson, and by her sister Mary Alice Shelton of Denver, CO. She is also survived by her late husbandâ�™s daughter May Mae Bates Mauldin and her husband B.A. of Springdale, AR. She leaves 12 grandchildren, 24 great grandchildren, 2 nieces and 1 nephew. The oldest grandchild is Andrew Ross Williams of Clarendon, AR. She was preceded in death by her parents and her brothers Clancy A. Cornish and Luther C. Cornish. Latimer Funeral Home will arrange the funeral service at Immanuel Baptist Church in Nashville at 2:00 PM on Saturday, July 2, 2011. Visitation with family members will be at Latimer Funeral Home from 6:00 to 8:00 PM on Friday, July 1. To send flowers or a memorial gift to the family of Clova B. Bates (Williams) please visit our Sympathy Store.