When Felton Williams was drafted into the U.S. Army in late 1942, he looked out the window of a bus and thought he would never see his home again.
But, Mr. Williams did return home from his service in World War II and eventually started the iconic grocery store, Felton’s Meat and Produce.
Mr. Williams died Dec. 27, following a long illness. He was 87.
“I was thankful he passed after the holidays,” his oldest son, Lee Williams, said. “I was expecting it, but you never think that today is going to be the day.”
Although Mr. Williams is gone, his store is still buzzing with shoppers, serving as a living testament to his hard work. Mr. Williams’ father had owned a store on the corner of Alsobrook and Coronet streets. He grew up working at the store. But when Mr. Williams returned from the war, he had dreams of starting his own store.
“He wanted to be a man and be his own boss,” Williams said.
In 1955, Mr. Williams started an enlarged fruit stand on West Baker Street. When it grew, he built a more modern store behind it in the 1960s. Mr. Williams sold the store in the 1970s, bought it back and then sold it again in the 1980s.
But he couldn’t stay away from the grocery business for long. In the 1990s, Mr. Williams bought the current property off Maryland Avenue.
“Dad was an incredibly hard worker,” Williams said. “Dad thrived on customer service. He wanted to help people. He wanted to give people a good deal.”
Williams and his sister, Karen Davis, worked at the store when they were teenagers, bagging groceries, stocking shelves, helping in the deli and cashiering. They still work at the store, overseeing its operations.
“He surrounded himself with people who worked hard like him and who knew their skill with meat,” Williams said.
“He was just a very lovable dad,” Davis said. “He was very caring, very giving. He cared about all his employees, what was going on in their lives.”
The siblings described their father as compassionate and generous. Williams attributes his father’s desire to help people to his faith and his experience in the military.
“Compassion for people was really encouraged during his time in the service, because he saw such suffering,” Williams said.
Mr. Williams left for his deployment to England when he was just 17 years old. He was the youngest member of his unit. Mr. Williams had said he had a foxhole conversion one dark night when his ship passed a German u-boat. He got down on his knees and prayed.
Since then, he built a family and life with his wife of 68 years, Lucille, based around that faith. Lucille brought him to Eastside Baptist Church, where he became treasurer and a deacon.
The couple met when he returned from basic training in 1943. She was working at his father’s store at the time.
“He loved her dearly,” Williams said. “He’d get up in the morning and fix her coffee and her fruit. They were a great team.”
In addition to the store and his love of God, Williams enjoyed grilling, real estate and spending time at grocery conventions and his mountain home in North Carolina.
“He loved to have a good time there,” Davis said. “He prided himself on scaring family on the road up the mountain.”
Williams said his father often drove close to the edge of the cliff to scare a cousin.
Mr. Williams was a member of the Plant City Lions Club, on the Board of Directors of South Florida Baptist Hospital and many other trade and service organizations. He was named Plant City Citizen of the Year in 2006.
“We all say that Dad gave us a true work ethic,” Davis said. “The way you should give it your best.”
“I look back and see what he has done in life,” Williams said. “Where I see the decisions he’s made, how he had to step out on faith, compared to what I’ve done. What I have is all because of him and his chances.”
Mr. Williams is survived by his wife of 68 years, Lucille Williams; children, Leland Williams, Karen Davis (Elliot) and Jeff Williams; siblings, Leo Williams, Dorothy Andreu and Jeraldine “Dinky” Cribbs (James); grandchildren, Kayla and Cameron; and many loving nieces, nephews, family and friends.
The family gives special thanks to his caregivers, Pansy, Jeanie, Pat, Lisa and Rene.