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C. H. and Caroline Yoe Foundation
HALL OF HONOR 2007
Lester
E. Williams
YHS
Class of 1925
Beatrice
Rylander Williams
YHS Class of
1927
The names
Lester and Beatrice Williams are destined to be known for
generations, Lester is known in his hometown as the man who
accumulated the wealth that benefits a whole community through
the Lester and Beatrice Williams Foundation. His wife, Beatrice,
alone set the private foundation on its course to benefit
Cameron in the last year of her life.
Lester
(1907-1990) spent almost his entire working life in Cameron
banking beginning in 1928 when Oxsheer M. Smith recruited young
Williams to work at Citizens National Bank. World War II took
him out of Cameron for about two years while he served in the
U.S. Navy. When he returned home in 1946 he was ready to go on
his own. Thus the Williams family that year set out on the
longest period of one family’s control in the history of First
National Bank in Cameron. The family still owns and operates
First National and its branches under the guidance of Richard E.
Williams, Jr.
Texas Bankers
Association gave its first annual 50-year award to Lester
Williams—another suitable accolade for the man who once had been
the youngest bank president in Texas. At one point First
National was among the top 10 percent among Texas banks based on
return on assets, return on equity and deposit growth.
Beatrice
Rylander (1908-1997) became Lester’s wife May 13, 1928. Their
only child, Richard E. Williams, Sr., was born April 23, 1929.
Bea was a
wife, mother, homemaker, the locus of her family and active
outdoorswoman who enjoyed hunting and fishing. She was an
accomplished gardener and cook who also led Girl Scout troops.
The family attended the First United Methodist Church.
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Mission Statement