Lizzie Mae-Williams

Obituary For Lizzie Mae-Williams

Mary Elizabeth Williams, known as Lizzie Mae, was born to the late Taft and Flora Bowman on October 31, 1929, in Sumter, South Carolina. At the age of two she joined Taft and Flora in New York City. In the following years Lizzie would become the oldest of four children joined by her brothers Sadio and George, and her sister Flora affectionally known as Sister. Lizzie Mae received her education in the New York City School System. She worked at the Salvation Army in Greenwich Village as a member of the cooking and housekeeping staff. She was a devout Baptist and worshiped at different churches including Mount Bethel Baptist church in Harlem and Trinity Lower East Side Lutheran Parish in lower Manhattan Lizzie Mae had her first child Catherine in 1947. In 1957 she would meet and marry Amos Williams. Together they had 5 children: Elizabeth, Leroy, Paul, Celestine and Amos, Jr. After raising her children, Lizzie Mae went on to take up night classes at Fashion Institute of Technology to learn sewing. Using what she learned, she would sew things like dresses, couch and pillow covers in her free time. She also took in her great granddaughter Tanesia and raised her since the age of five. In 2001 she married her second husband Phillip Cabbagestalk. Lizzie loved being around family, whether it was hosting New Year’s Eve parties, holiday barbecues at the FDR Drive Park or church outing at Bear Mountain State Park. She recently celebrated her 93rd birthday surrounded by family and friends. Our beloved Lizzie Mae left us on December 11, 2022, at Beth Israel hospital in lower Manhattan She leaves to cherish in her loving memory: children, Paul and Celestine; her sister, Flora; grandchildren, Ronald, Dwight, Tanya, Donnell, Earl Jr, and Shynasha; eight great-grandchildren, two great-great grandchildren, and a host of nieces and nephews.