A Family Story Woven into Baylor’s History

For John Williams, B.B.A. ’67, Baylor University has always been part of his family’s story.

Some of his earliest memories were made just steps from campus, where his maternal grandparents lived one block from Baylor. His grandmother, Ethel Potter, served as choir director at Seventh and James Baptist Church, while his grandfather, Henry, introduced him to Baylor traditions that became family rituals. The changing seasons were measured by Homecoming festivities, football Saturdays and visits to the bears.

Long before Williams became a Baylor student himself, the University had already shaped the lives of his parents, Virginia and Tom Williams, both members of the Class of 1931. They witnessed one of the most memorable moments in Baylor history when President Samuel Palmer Brooks’ final message to the graduating class — now known as the Immortal Message — was read following his death. His closing charge, entrusting graduates with the care of Baylor, became a lasting part of the Williams family.

“My mother kept a framed copy of the Immortal Message in our home,” Williams recalled.

Baylor’s history intersected with his family’s story in other profound ways. Williams’ father played basketball for Baylor, but financial hardship forced him to step away from school for a year to earn tuition.

“Daddy played basketball at Baylor,” Williams said. “He was the second tallest person in the Southwest Conference at the time at six-foot-four. He missed being part of the Immortal Ten crash by a year.”

The tragedy claimed the lives of 10 Baylor Basketball team members and students in 1927, many of whom Tom counted as friends. Their loss left an indelible mark on both the University and the Williams family.

Today, Williams continues his family’s Baylor legacy through the Virginia and Tom Williams Endowed Chair in American Literature within the College of Arts & Sciences’ Department of English. He established a faculty chair in honor of his parents, hoping to strengthen Baylor’s commitment to American literature while celebrating the values Virginia and Tom carried throughout their lives.

“I have always thought you ought to name something after people who were important to you or influential in your life,” Williams said. “Certainly my parents were both of those things, and Baylor was important and influential in their lives. I think they would be thrilled.”