Faye "Sue" Williams

Faye Sue Robinson Williams, 88, passed away in Jonesboro on Friday, December 25. She was born in Jonesboro on June 17, 1932, as the only child of the late Nolon and Constance (Cartwright) Robinson.

She graduated Jonesboro High School and attended Arkansas State before leaving for Washington D.C. in 1951 to work in the Pentagon during the Korean War. She worked in Memphis for several years where she met and married John Charles Williams in 1959.

Sue returned to Jonesboro in 1966 after attending the Wilton School in Chicago, IL, and began a long-term catering business in 1967 with the kitchen in the rear of her craft store, The Bird in Hand, where she spent many years teaching tole painting and decoupage. Sue was a fixture in the Jonesboro “food scene” for nearly 50 years. She catered hundreds of weddings and parties, taught numerous cooking classes, managed the private dining room at Citizens Bank and then Mercantile Bank and founded Sue’s Kitchen restaurant in 1984. Long after her retirement, Sue was a staple at her son'd restaurant, named Sue’s Kitchen in honor of her, on Church Street greeting guests with a smile and a laugh as she was peeling fresh fruit and vegetables and sharing stories about the history of Jonesboro. Sue was a member of 1st United Methodist Church and long-time resident at St. Bernard’s Village.

She is predeceased by her husband and is survived by her two children John C. Williams and wife Carrie of Jonesboro; Lori M. Williams and wife Katherine of St. Louis, MO, and two grandchildren, Chance and Cassie Williams of Jonesboro.

The family plans to host a celebration of Sue’s life at a later date in 2021 for family and friends.