Rita Truxillo Williams' Obituary
Rita Truxillo Williams of Mandeville, at the uncommonly spirited and cognitively sharp age of 104, passed from this life of natural causes on Thursday, April 30, 2024, with her devoted son at her side, petting her forehead and holding her hand.
She was preceded in death by her loving husband, Karl M. Williams, parents Anatole Jerome Truxillo, Ida Hebert Truxillo, and her sister, Ruth Truxillo Favret.
She is survived by her son, Webb Wayne Williams (Catherine Bell Williams); her grandchildren, Sheila Osborne (David), Helen Sellers (Neil), and Lauren Postlewait (Michael). She was blessed with her great-grandchildren, Neil Sellers Jr., William Sellers, Catherine (Cece) Sellers, and Anders Postlewait. She is also survived by her beloved niece, Marion Favret Wilson.
She was born on August 15, 1919, in Morgan City, Louisiana, the youngest daughter of a kind, congenial Cajun baker friends called “Nat”. Her mother’s hobbies included writing and cartooning. The family moved to New Orleans where they set up a bakery on Green St. in Carrollton, where “Nat” was one of the first bakeries in town to deliver fresh French bread and doughnuts to restaurants and grocery stores in the Uptown area.
Rita and her sister Ruth grew up and married their sweethearts, but they were always very close. Pearl Harbor changed everything. Karl joined the Army Signal Corp and Rita learned and then taught radar, the then-new top secret strategic tool for the government.
Their son Webb was born the day Karl shipped out to fight the Nazis in Europe.
After WWII, they built a home and Karl worked as a movie theater manager, with Rita’s assistance in concessions, etc. She’d break out in song and dance sometimes behind the candy counter, singing, “There’s no business like show business…” They ran the New Orleans Pitt Theater, Tiger, and many others. Very successfully.
After Hurricane Betsy, Karl died of cancer. She managed the theater until she decided to take a state civil service exam - coming out tops in all Louisiana. She handled all the billing, coding, and bookkeeping for LSU Medical School’s Neurosurgery Dept. for 25 years, retiring at 80. She was still friends with the many brain surgeons and coworkers till she passed.
Athletic all her life, she walked over a dozen Crescent City Classics, lying about her age as being younger and getting trophies for winning anyway. She walked 8 blocks a day in her Mandeville neighborhood up until a few weeks before her passing.
Her legacy and influence will never die since she’s touched so very many lives. She saw the Spanish Flu, the Great Depression, World War II, hurricanes, the births and deaths of loved ones, and she’s touched countless hearts. She never met a stranger.
In memory of Rita, she would want you to give your loved ones a hug and a kiss and be kind to everyone you encounter. (And try to make them laugh.) Plant a tree or a nice Night Blooming Jasmine bush at your place. She loved the sweet fragrance.
A celebration of her extraordinary life will be held at a later date. Burial will be private.
E.J. Fielding Funeral Home is honored to be entrusted with Mrs. Williams’s funeral arrangements. To share thoughts, memories, and condolences please visit www.ejfieldingfh.com.
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