Marsha Jane Williams, 82, of Marshall, MO, died Wednesday, December 17, 2025, at The Arbors at Westport Estates.
Memorial services will be held at 2 p.m. Monday, December 29, 2025, at Campbell-Lewis Funeral Home in Marshall with Rev. Wayne Doolin officiating. Inurnment will be held at a later date in the Williams Family Cemetery near Bunker, MO. Visitation will be from 1 p.m. to 1:45 p.m. Monday at the funeral home with an Order of the Eastern Star service beginning at 1:45 p.m. In lieu of flowers memorials are suggested to Friends of the Marshall Public Library or Saline County Historical Society. An online guestbook is available at www.campbell-lewis.com.
Born April 26, 1943, she was the daughter of the late Leland Albert Maxwell and Eva Jane Brown Maxwell. Marsha had lived in Marshall most of her life and was a 1961 graduate of Marshall High School. She continued her education at Missouri Valley College, where she was a double major student and received her bachelor’s degree in English and History. She then earned a master’s degree in English at the University of Missouri-Columbia.
On December 24, 1966, she married Emmit Guy Williams, who preceded her in death on September 5, 2016. Marsha had a career at Marshall Habilitation Center that spanned over three decades, and she retired as a unit program supervisor. She was a member of First Baptist Church, where she and Emmit had previously taught a Sunday school class and where she was also a member of the hand bell choir. Marsha was a member of the Order of the Eastern Star, served on the Marshall Public Library Board and Friends of the Marshall Public Library Board, and was a member of the Saline County Composite Squadron of the Civil Air Patrol.
She is survived by two daughters, Erica Williams and Erin Meyer (David); three brothers-in-law, Dwight Mikels of Marshall, James Williams, and Kenneth Williams, both of Oklahoma; and many beloved nieces and nephews.
Marsha was greeted in Heaven by her parents and husband; a twin sister, who was stillborn; one brother-in-law, George Williams; and three sisters-in-law, Thelma Rae Williams, Nelda Hayes, and Kathie Mullins.