Spotlight Upon Unsung Heroes:

Emma Vida Williams Bonner,

Girls Basketball Coach, Teacher, Devoted Wife and Mother

By Wilbur Thirkield (Bill) Titus

In sports, most of our heroes are men; some with magnficent bodies and 
outstanding talents. They demand and receive astronomical salaries, with
numerous endorsements.. Some are touted for years of service and devotion to 
the sport of their expertise. Today, I present to you one of my favorite
heroines, Mrs. Emma Vida Williams Bonner, who spent more than 30 years coaching
girls basketball teams in East Texas for FREE!. She made a positive impact upon
the lives of the young girls around her by instilling in them characteristics 
that are essential for the attainment of the good live and making the world a 
better place.

Many times, the girls used her as a counselor, a mother away from home.

Some of the places where she coached successfully are Concord, Mount Enterprise,
Logensport, Cherina, and Fairfield, Texas. Many of her teams were outstanding 
and participated in district and state tournaments with distention.

The coaching assignments were less then ideal, In Dogan High School of 
Fairfield, Texas, she taught the fifth, grade class during the day and held 
basketball practice during the noon hour and after school when the male coach 
permitted her to use the gym. She rode the school bus with the girls on their 
trips and remained on the bus until the last girl had been delivered home. 
Sometimes, when girls could not be carried home that night, they would eat and 
sleep at Mrs. Bonner's.

One of her favorite coaching stories concerns the time that she carried her 
team from Fairfield to the state tourament at Prairie View College to compete 
for the championship. Her team met and defeated Garrison, the team that was 
coached by her brother., Vertis Williams.

Mrs. Bonner is compassionate and kind. She spent much time helping others. She
spent years attending her mother-in-law, Mrs. Sarah Ann Bonner. She kept her 
parents when it was no longer advisable for them to live alone.

Our heroine was active in the communities where she has live. She was a member
of Jones Chapel United Methodist Church, where she was a member of the Senior 
Choir and other auxilaries.

Emma is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Sam Williams, the third of ten children 
raised as children of sharecroppers on a farm in Concord, Texas. She developed
a love of sports while she was in high school and played well in both high 
school and Texas College.

Her first husband was Waddell Leadon. They had one daughter, Ceatria. By her 
second husband, Reverend Clifton N. Bonner, she has a daughter, Geussippina. 
She has two grand children, Maury Joseph and Nerissa Lonnetta of whom she is 
very proud.

Emma, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Sam Williams, grew up in the Concord Community 
of East Texas. Her parents were sharecroppers, therefore Emma and her nine 
siblings had to do hard menial farm chores to make ends meet.

Yes, our heroine is a woman of character who has spent more than 42 years as an
excellent educator, who has volunteered her time and resources to serving God
and mankind. Among the many stars that are in her crown are persons who have 
been touched by teachings and example such as Claudia Mayes Gooden, DISD 
physical education teacher, Sherry Ann Andy Brackens, RN, former Director of 
Nursing, Fairfield Hospital, Tommie Nell Titus, retired-

+ counselor Dallas Independent School District, Linda Marie Cox Cooper, Vice
President for Teller Operations, Citizens National Bank, Henderson, Texas and a
galaxy of others.

She lives in Lufkin, Texas where she is a member of Long Chapel CME Church, and 
continues her humanitarian works of caring for others.

The photo shown to our right was made during Emma's 80th. birthday part which 
 was sponsored by her daughter Ceatria (Polly). Front left to right on the back 
 row are Geussippina Bonner, Attorney, African Diplomat, Emma's youngest 
 daughter; Nerissa Lonnetta Williams, Artist, AB from Hampton University. 
 daughter of Geussippina; Maury Joseph Bonner, Department of Justice, son of 
 Geussippins; and Ceatria Bonner Marrion, retired instructor of Paul Quinn 
 College, and Dallas Independent School District, older daughter of Emma. On 
 the front row, reading from left to right are Emma V. Bonner and her sister 
 and companion Dora Williams Johnson.

This is merely a small representation of the Williamses and Bonners whom she 
adores and who respects and loves her dearly. To know Emma is to admire her!