March 25, 1993 – July 29, 2017

NATCHEZ — Services for Devin Tevonn “Will” Williams, 24, of Natchez, who died Friday, July 21, 2107, in Natchez, will be 1 p.m. Saturday at New Direction Worship Center in Natchez with the Rev. Kevin Deason officiating.

Burial will follow at Grove African Methodist Episcopal Church Cemetery under the direction of Marshall Funeral Home.

Visitation will be from 11 a.m. until service time Saturday at the church.

Devin was born March 25, 1993, in Natchez, the son of Willie Davis III and Stella Williams.

He was raised by his grandmother, Dorothy May, and his mother. He attended school in the Natchez-Adams School District.

Devin was resilient, strong, and determined. As a child, he endured multiple operations on his legs and feet and wore braces on them, as well as a number of operations to create and repair a shunt in his brain. He was resilient.

He learned to walk without the aid of braces or other support. Not only did he walk, he learned to run. He walked, and walked, and walked — that’s how so many people came to know him. People may have driven by him as he walked along the street, or he may have come into your store or business to visit. He loved to meet new people and make new friends. Some may have stopped to offer him a ride as he walked along. He was grateful for each and every thing that so many people did for him. But, if no one stopped to pick him up, he was going to make it to his destination with his own two feet. He was determined.

And, he was smart. Devin could easily do mathematics in his head with no need for pen and paper. He loved going to the Armstrong public library. He was there an average of three to five days a week. He loved to use the computers there, and he loved to read. Devin was also a writer. He kept a journal and he had an excellent vocabulary. He said that was from all of the reading he did.

Devin had a wonderful sense of humor and he loved to laugh and make other people laugh, too. He didn’t watch a lot of television, but when he did, his first choices were the Cartoon Network and Nicktoons TV. “Pinky and the Brain,” the cartoon series created by Steven Spielberg, was one his favorites. Devin not only understood the high-end humor in the cartoon series, he appreciated it. He also liked to watch re-runs of the Golden Girls. Dorothy was his favorite.

Where sports were concerned, he enjoyed watching the National Basketball Association (NBA) and would race home at night to watch Rey Mysterio in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) with his younger brother. He didn’t like watching football. He said he didn’t like to see players falling down, because it reminded him of times when he would sometimes fall down from tripping and stumbling while he was walking.

Devin’s presence in the lives of those who loved him, his beautiful, easy smile, the model that his resilience, strength and determination provided to so many of us will be missed. We know that he is in heaven and is pain free. He is walking and running, he is able to ride a bicycle and drive a truck like he always wanted to do, his vision is 20/20, and he is eating all the loaded French fries with cheese, chili, bacon, jalapenos, sour cream and a side of ranch dressing that he wants.

He was preceded in death his grandfathers, Booker T. May and Willie Davis Jr.; and his grandmother, Willie Belle Davis.

Survivors include his grandmother; his parents; three brothers, Adrian Williams, Jamonta Williams and Willie Davis IV; five sisters, Williesia Williams, Shakiera Williams, Willisia Moody, Akeela Jones and Mariah Jones; three nephews, Dieran Williams, Markaden Williams and Kharter Williams; and one niece, Kieome Williams.

Pallbearers will be Quinton Clemons, Aurelious Davis, Gilbert Knight, Lugene May, Calvin O’Neal and Arrick Rice.