Bonnie Calhoun Williams Obituary



Bonnie Calhoun Williams, a member of the Scripps Hall of Fame for Journalism Excellence, died August 23, 2024. She was 73.

Born in Langdale, AL, she was the daughter of Samuel J. and Annie Jo Kent Calhoun and the granddaughter of Dr. Samuel J. and Ada Louise Bryan Calhoun.

Bonnie graduated from Valley High School and LaGrange (GA) College. After a brief career in banking in Atlanta, where she met lifelong friends, Bonnie returned to Langdale and became the Lifestyles Editor for the Valley Times-News. Bonnie’s newspaper career took her to the Managing Editor’s job at the Dalton (GA) Daily Citizen News and Pagination Coordinator with the Rome News Tribune and its community newspapers. Bonnie later became a public relations writer for Clemson University before ending her career after more than ten years as Editorial Page Editor for the Scripps owned Anderson Independent Mail.

Bonnie’s editorials were twice recognized at Scripps National Journalism Awards Ceremony at the Washington Press Club and her induction into the Hall of Fame at Scripps National Headquarters in Cincinnati, OH. Bonnie also received journalism awards from the Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina Press Associations.

Her friend, mentor, and former editor, John Huff, said “It’s tough to lose a beautiful soul like Bonnie. I knew her as a smart, talented, journalist who truly cared about our Upstate community and its people, about our state and our country, and who worked hard to shine the light of compassion and positive ideas into our lives. I knew her as a friend who never wavered in her love and support. Sweet and tough. Smart with great humor. She was a wonderful friend. Over 45 years of the news business, I never worked with any better journalists or had any better friends than Bonnie and her husband, David.”

Bonnie is survived by her husband: David Earl Williams II of Seneca; and her brother and his wife: John Clay and Nancy Calhoun of Langdale, AL.

The family is at their respective homes.

Graveside services for Bonnie will be held on Thursday, August 29th, 2024, at 4:00 PM (EDT) in Langdale Cemetery in Valley, Alabama.  The Reverend Todd Owen will officiate.  Her family will receive friends in the Cemetery.

Johnson Brown-Service Funeral Home of Valley directing.

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