Rev. Leonard Allen Williams

Rev. Leonard Allen Williams was born in Granite, Oklahoma, on January 31, 1930, as the eldest child of the late Bert Allen Williams and Minerva Belle (Leonard) Williams.

Leonard grew up during the Great Depression, and that experience had a lifelong impact on him. He was frugal, and careful to keep anything that could potentially have usefulness in the future. He never bought anything new, unless he could not find it used.

As a child, he helped pick cotton in the fields of his parents’ farm in southwest Oklahoma, where the summers were very hot and very dry, and the dirt was red. They also grew watermelons, which Leonard took to town to sell out of the back of a truck.

Leonard graduated as valedictorian of Lake Creek High School in 1948. He then went to Oklahoma City University, having already decided that he had been called by God for a career in ministry.

Leonard met Gloria Gene Lingenfelter at Oklahoma City University, and there began a partnership and love that would inspire many. Shortly after they both graduated, they were married on August 26, 1951, in Nardin, OK.

Leonard and Gloria then went together to the Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. They both graduated with Master’s Degrees in 1956. Later on, after returning from Brazil with four children, Leonard did doctoral work at Phillips University in Enid, Oklahoma.

In 1956, Leonard and Gloria, having completed their training to be missionaries, set out for Brazil on a ship, with a one-year-old son (Larry), and all of their belongings in trunks. Once they arrived, they both did intensive language training. Both of them spoke fluent Portuguese for the rest of their lives after that.

Together, they served for 10 years in Brazil, both in cities and very remote, almost inaccessible, little towns. Leonard drove a 4WD Jeep through jungles and over roads thick with mud. He had many stories about his adventures with that Jeep!

In December of 1967, the family returned to America for good. Leonard then had additional training at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, to get his Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) certification and worked as a hospital chaplain for a time.

In 1970, he began serving as one of the pastors of the Crossroads Parish, which included the Savannah United Methodist Church, Savanah Presbyterian Church, Amazonia United Methodist Church, and St John’s Church in Amazonia.

During his years in Andrew County, Leonard also worked for 10 years as an alcohol and drug abuse treatment counselor at the State Hospital in St Joseph, Missouri.

In the mid-1980s, he was appointed to serve as minister at the Plattsburgh, MO, United Methodist Church.

In 1993, Leonard retired, having served for over 40 years in the ministry, after serving the Butler, MO, United Methodist Church.

Their retirement years were spent enjoying each other and their growing brood of grandchildren. In 1999, they returned to Andrew County and were very happy there.

Gloria died shortly before Christmas in 2013. In the years before her death, Leonard was a faithful and tireless caretaker for Gloria. He was devoted and never wavered.

Leonard grieved mightily for Gloria in the years after her death. He did his best to carry on, but he never fully recovered from her loss. In 2023, he finally acquiesced to leaving their home in Andrew County and moving to Kansas City to be nearer to some of his children.

He found a wonderful home at Overland Park Place, where they embraced him. Leonard even served as their minister for a few years, preparing sermons and conducting services every week, well into his 90’s.

He was mentally sharp, and liked to recite poems from memory and make jokes right up until the end. Just two days before he died, he learned to operate an electric wheelchair for the first time, and had a look of glee as he whizzed down the hall!

Survivors include two of his siblings, his children, grandchildren, and one namesake great-grandchild:

Siblings: Earl Ray and Susie Williams, North Carolina; and Barbara and Doug Diedrich, Minnesota.

Children: Rev. Larry and Sally Williams, Kansas City, MO, and their two children: Lawson and Vanessa Williams, Kansas City; and Amaryllis "Alice" Lamb, Columbia, MO.

Rev. Gary and Rev. Jodi Ponder Williams, Merrimack, NH; and their son, Rev. Andrew Ponder Williams and Ashton Beebe, Belmont, MA.

Lonny and Helen Olson-Williams, Rochester, MN; and their two children: Hannah Olson-Williams, Seattle, WA; and Erik Olson-Williams, Minneapolis, MN.

Glenda Williams, Mission, KS; and her three children: Sarah Knechtenhofer, Roeland Park, KS; Samuel and Alessia Knechtenhofer, El Segundo, CA; and Jakob Knechtenhofer and Kali Wade, Gladstone, MO.

And one great-grandchild: his namesake, little Leonard Allen Williams, born on May 6, 2026, to Lawson and Vanessa Williams. Leonard got to meet and hold little Leonard before he died. It was a wonderful moment.

Interment and a brief graveside service will be at 3:00 PM this Wednesday, July 1, 2026, at the Savannah Cemetery, where he will rest next to his wife of 62 years, Gloria. He had wished for Gloria to be back at his side for years, and now he is finally reunited with her. That alone is cause for celebration and thanksgiving!

The family suggests memorial contributions to Ashland United Methodist Church, 2711 Ashland Avenue, St. Joseph, MO 64506.

Leonard lived his life by a very simple rule that Jesus taught - The Golden Rule. It is simple, but powerful. He always treated others, no matter who, no matter what circumstance they were in, no matter what country they were from, as Jesus taught. May his example light his family’s way as they move forward without him.