IN LOVING MEMORY OF
Philip
Williamson
October 17, 1943 – August 15, 2020
Obituary
Philip was born on October 17, 1943 in Columbus, Ohio to Ruth and Donald Williamson, the first of four children. During the school year, he attended public schools in Columbus. Summers were fun filled at the family cottage on Buckeye Lake where everyone could enjoy water skiing and other lake activities. When time for college came, it was to Ohio State where he went for his bachelors degree in business and love for the Ohio State Buckeyes. For the next several years, Philip was in the Air Force during the Vietnam conflict where he was a jet engine mechanic.
Business began when he joined several partners in purchasing the rights to sell Century 21 franchises in the Southern Ohio region when Century 21 was starting. He became regional president for the group until it was purchased by TWA. Fleeing the Ohio winters, Philip moved to Naples, Florida where his parents already had a home. Meanwhile, Philip was asked to be Regional President for a new franchise involving travel agencies. About this time, his wife got a divorce, took the children , and moved away. For recreation, he began playing racquetball with a friend from Ohio, also in Naples. His friend's wife decided she did not want to stay in Florida and moved with her husband back to Ohio. Philip then began playing racquetball with a woman named Julia who had been playing with her friend, Lilly, who got a job which caused her to quit.
Philip then married Julia and the couple moved to Houston so Philip could begin working for the new travel agency franchise concept. The person he replaced sold two franchises in two years. Philip and his carefully selected staff sold sixty. The new concept of large businesses having an agency implant worked very well until the internet made it possible for people to do their own reservations themselves. Philip went on to work for a business broker, being their franchise expert. He loved helping people find a good business, a location where they had a chance to succeed , going over prospective leases with them to make sure there weren't any abnormal requirements.
This is what he was doing when he was struck down by a hemorrhagic stroke which put two blood clots in his brain. After brain surgery and five weeks in intensive care he was eventually released from the hospital in a wheel chair, mostly paralyzed and legally blind. Julia kept him at home with caregivers supplied by the VA for five years. At that time he needed more nursing care and went into a nursing home.
Gradually his health declined and he passed away August 15 , at eight o'clock in the evening. Since public gatherings are still not allowed, there will not be a service at this time. There will be a celebration of his life preceding his burial which will be in one of the National Cemeteries in Springfield, Illinois, either in the preferred one , Oak Ridge, the second most visited cemetery in the United States because it is where Abraham Lincoln is buried, or Camp Butler just outside of town . If you want to be contacted when the burial will be, probably quite a while from now, you may call Julia at 936-441-8292 or E mail her at
juliajd@aol.com
. Since there will be no service at this time, you may make a donation instead of flowers to "Wounded Warriors" ,your local SPCA, or the charity of your choice. I know we will all miss Philip's vibrant personality and his business acumen. I have been missing them since he first had the stroke in 2014. Don't hesitate to call if you have any questions.
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