Geline Bowman Williams, 100, former Richmond city councilman and mayor, died Jan. 12.
A lifelong Richmonder, Williams graduated from St. Catherine’s School in Richmond and attended Goucher College in Baltimore for two years before she married Alexander Hutcheson Williams Jr. during WWII. Williams was preceded in death by her husband in December 1996.
Williams and her twin brother Jay Killian Bowman were born Feb. 27, 1924, to Geline MacDonald Bowman and Jacob Killian Bowman. Killian, a U.S. Army Air Corps Lieutenant and navigator of a B-17 Flying Fortress in World War II, was killed after being shot down in an Allied bombing raid over Germany in January 1945.
Williams was active in civic affairs and served on many boards and commissions including the Instructive Visiting Nurse Association, the Richmond Metropolitan Authority, Commonwealth Catholic Charities and Christian Children’s Fund. She was elected to Richmond City Council in 1984 and served for 10 years, including as mayor 1988-90 — one of only two women to have held that office. As mayor, she chaired the Combined Sewer Overflow Commission, which developed flood control infrastructure to protect downtown Richmond and improve the ecology of the James River. By appointment of Gov. George Allen, she served on the Virginia Commission on Local Government 1996-2006.
Williams was dedicated to her Catholic faith. She was a daily communicate for many years at St. Bridget Church where she sent her five children to the elementary school. Among her many honors, Williams received the Annual Brotherhood Award of the National Conference of Christians and Jews in 1979, St. Catherine’s School Distinguished Alumnae Award in 2011 and the Commonwealth Catholic Charities Community Service Award in 2012. In 1985, she was awarded the Benemerenti Medal by Pope John Paul II.
Williams was most passionate about her advocacy of the right to life of the unborn, the disabled and the elderly. She and her husband were among the founders in 1967 of Virginia Society for Human Life, the first state pro-life organization in the country, and she led that organization for many years. A national leader in the pro-life movement, Williams served as board chairman of the National Right to Life Committee for 34 years. Her right to life advocacy and her service as Richmond’s mayor led her to meet with three U.S. presidents, two in the Oval Office.
One of the greatest joys of her life was spending time in large gatherings of her children and grandchildren.
She is survived by her five children: Alexander Williams III of Los Angeles; Jay Williams of Green Island, N.Y.; Geline Williams of Boston; Gina Urban of Murfreesboro, Tenn.; and Anne Coupe of Chicago; 12 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.
A Mass of Christian Burial was to be offered Jan. 16. Memorial contributions may be made to the Virginia Society for Human Life, Little Sisters of the Poor, St. Bridget Church or St. Mary’s Church, both in Richmond.
