George Cabell Williams Jr., 89, of Vero Beach, passed away on Jan. 13, 2016.
He is survived by his daughter Catherine Williams Sullivan; his son G. Cabell Williams III; and four grandchildren: George Cabell Williams IV, James Bolitha Williams, Virginia deShalle Williams and Katherine Fontaine Williams. He has one great- grandson, Thatcher Macleod Williams.
Williams was born May 13, 1926, and was the only son of George Cabell Williams and Eva Edwards Williams of Whitmell, Va., in southern Pittsylvania County. Williams’ father was a tobacco farmer and a Deputy Sheriff who was killed in the line of duty when Williams was only 18 months old. He was raised by his mother with two older sisters on the family farm.
He attended Whitmell High School and worked the tobacco farm with his mother until 1942 when he joined the Army Air Force at age 16. He served as a flight engineer under General Stilwell in the war against Japan until the war’s end in 1945. During his service to the country, he flew missions over the Himalayas, supplying Chinese and American troops with food and war supplies.
At war’s end, he returned to the University of Virginia where he earned his degree in business administration and was a member of Phi Gamma Delta. While at UVA, he met Ileita Margaret Laws, the daughter of Chief Justice Bolitha James Laws and Nancy Macleod Laws of Chevy Chase, Md., and they married on Feb. 2, 1951 in Washington D.C.
They immediately moved to San Francisco, Calif., where Williams served as a special agent for the FBI working undercover in the Bureau’s investigation of communist activity. Upon their return to the Washington area, he and Leita lived with their two children in Alexandria, Va., and Williams worked on Capitol Hill.
In 1958, he moved his family to Chevy Chase, Md., and he joined Allied Capital
Corporation, one of the country’s first small business investment companies as comptroller. The company went public in 1960 with $5 million in assets under management. In 1962, Mr. Williams became CEO and later Chairman of the Board. He retired from the company in 2003 after 42 years, at which time, Allied had over $3 billion in assets under management. During his tenure, Williams produced an annual average compounded return of 18.3 percent for his shareholders.
Known nationwide as an industry leader, Williams received numerous awards and recognitions including the Small Business Administration’s highest award for achievement.
Williams served on many public and private boards including the National Association of Small Business Investment Companies, Riggs Bank, The Boys and Girls Clubs of Washington, D.C. and the Appalachian Trail Commission. He also served as “Executive in Residence” at the McIntire school of Commerce at the University of Virginia and raised more than $1 million in endowments for the William G.Shenkir Eminent Scholar Professorship.
In 2003, Williams retired to his home in John’s Island on the barrier island in Vero Beach where he lived with the love of his life and wife of 62 years until her death in 2011.
Memorial services will be held on Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2016 at 11 a.m. at All Saints Episcopal Church, 3 Chevy Chase Circle. Chevy Chase, Md.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to the All Saints Church Foundation or the McIntire School of Commerce, William G. Shenkir Professorship, PO Box 400173, Charlottesville, VA 22904-4173.
Arrangements are by Strunk Funeral Home and Crematory, Vero Beach.
A guest book is available at www.strunkfuneralhome.com.