Eileen Kay Spahn Williams

ROCKY MOUNT – Eileen Kay Spahn Williams, age 79, passed away on Monday, March 24, 2025.  She was born at Norfolk General Hospital on December 6, 1945.  She was the daughter of the late Clinton Edward Spahn and Evelyn Lauer Spahn.

Eileen was a graduate of Craddock High School in Portsmouth, VA and studied commercial art at the Richmond Professional Institute (now VCU).  She later worked in the Creative Department of one of Virginia’s largest advertising agencies where she met her husband.  She later worked as an artist for WTAR-TV and WWBT-TV stations prior to becoming the first Art Director of Lewis Advertising, Inc.

From the time her mother placed her on the back of a horse at age two, Eileen had a great love of all things horse.  She owned several horses over the years and collected horse paintings, sculptures, and porcelains.  In later years, she also wrote articles for Carolina Hoofbeats magazine and served as a reporter for the publication at the 2017 Kentucky Derby.  She also attended the Breeders Cup and many other horse races throughout the years.  For several years she served as Secretary of the North Carolina Thoroughbred Association.

Eileen was also active in various community organizations serving as a member of the Rocky Mount Junior Guild and later sitting on the board of Habitat for Humanity and volunteering as an on-air reader for the Down East Radio Reading Service for the Blind for many years.

Eileen will be remembered for her talents.  Not only was she an extraordinary artist, but she learned to paint images with her words as she wrote and published her Invisible Wings book of poetry.  She cherished her worship of the Lord as a member of the Lutheran church, teaching Sunday School, serving on Church Council and participating in Trinity Lutheran Church’s With God We Can ministry.  She was also a gifted soprano who sang with the choir at Trinity Lutheran for many years.

Eileen is survived by her husband of 58 years, Donald H. Williams, Jr.; her sons, Clinton Coleman Williams and wife, Allison Collier and George Edward Reeves Williams and wife, Margarette Miller; her six grandchildren, Bailey Grace, Bethany Collier, Avery Elizabeth, Miller Reeves, Cayton Marea, and Virginia Banks Williams; her sister, Deborah Spahn Cove of Ithaca, NY; her nieces, Gwyneth Diemand and Annan Lopata; and her nephew, Brennen Montgomery.

A Celebration of Eileen’s Life will be held on Saturday, March 29, 2025, at 11:00 AM at Trinity Lutheran Church, 433 S. Winstead Avenue, Rocky Mount, NC  27804 with Pastor Alice Curl officiating.  The family will receive friends and relatives on Friday, March 28, 2025, from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM at Wheeler & Woodlief Funeral Home.

Because it is in the Lenten season, the family requests that flowers not be sent, since they cannot be placed in the sanctuary.  In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made in Eileen’s memory to Trinity Lutheran Church, 433 S. Winstead Ave., Rocky Mount, NC  27804.

Arrangements entrusted to Wheeler & Woodlief Funeral Home & Cremation Services, 1130 N. Winstead Avenue, Rocky Mount, NC 27804.  You may share memories and condolences with the family by visiting www.wheelerwoodlief.com.