Ninety-five year old Madeline Sertz Williams, who first landed in White Center in 1919 and moved into a World War I tent with her parents from Erie, Pennsylvania, has just established the Endowment for the Arts under her name to benefit Holy Family Parish School, 9615 20th Avenue SW.
Williams, a feisty, Marine View Drive resident who lives alone in her house, attended from 7th through 9th grade and was then West Seattle High School class of '34. A dinner and reception was held for her at the parish school Friday night, Feb. 12.

Williams, who was Miss White Center 1933 and 1934, will donate $5,000 immediately toward the endowment, and her family will donate an additional $50,000 of her money when she passes. The endowment seeks $100,000 total to keep music and dance a permanent part of the school's curriculum.

Williams' son, Bill, of Shelton, and daughter, Janet Dillow, who lives near her mother in West Seattle, attended. Madeline’s husband, Bruce, died in 1990, and son, Mike, in 1986. Also attending were piano instructor and West Seattle musical fixture, John H. Van Lierop, Jr., who has given Williams organ lessons for 20 years, although she played piano since her childhood.

Williams’ tent was in White Center, and her extended family purchased several lots about that time to build on across the street from Holy Family around 1920. Her parents then moved north of Roxbury a few blocks. When she married, she and her husband built a home less than three blocks away, also north of Roxbury.

"I call her a 'recreational student,'" said Lierop. "She has been a determined student but would never play for a recital. She plays well. She likes Clair de Lune and Liebestraum. I was impressed with her strong faith in God. She gives me (Catholic) magazines to give to my father, a retired Presbyterian minister.

"Her wish is that the school's music and arts program won't get cut every time they need a sewer repair or whatever," said Dillow. "The endowment is more of a tribute to her as it will go toward music, something she is excited about, rather than a general donation to the church."

"It’s a legacy come true," enthused Bill. "Here she is 95 years old, and graduated here in 1930," he said of his mother. "I think it’s wonderful. Probably one of the saddest moments of her life was when we moved from White Center to our house in West Seattle since there wasn’t room there for the baby grand. She had tears in her eyes."

"Madeline inspires me," said event organizer, host, and Holy Family alumna, Mary Moran. “She's got a million stories. This woman has lived, and lives well now."

"I became principal here 18 months ago," said Boston-born Francis Cantwell, retired Air Force and high school teacher in Washington, D.C. "About nine months ago I was called into the office and told 'Madeline wants to meet the new principal.' We talked two hours and it felt like 15 minutes. I could listen for hours to her talk about what she’s done for the parish, school, and community."

"In Romania I was educated professionally to become a competitive musician, then gave that up," said Anca Wilson, the school's vice principal, music teacher, and church music director, in a speech to the audience of about 50. "Then God called me beck to the music that I love. We are her celebrating this great and beautiful lady who has been an integral part of the White Center community and of Holy Family School.”

Although Williams was modest and had few words to say to the audience, she recalled her long life in White Center on a video that was shown. In it she said, "The nuns were very diligent and my brother was always getting his knuckles cracked. He said it was because his sister was their favorite. I said, 'No, you were always doing something. I behaved.'

"Music is kind of an outlet for better things in life,” she stated in the video. “It was so prevalent in our house that I appreciated music. I just think that young people should be introduced to good music, not just the stuff that’s going around now. My first love was my god, my family, and my music. That was it."

Of course there was also her loving husband, Bruce, originally from Kennewick. He managed Mr. Shields’ Sure Fine grocery store north of the Admiral Junction, then bought a milk truck and a route and then his own gas station, Paul’s Super Service, by Delridge, 16th and Roxbury, before entering the insurance business.

Williams recalled that her first job was as an usherette at the (George) Shrigley Theater, 1615 Roxbury, on the “White Center side,” that showed silent films while a piano played. She also worked at Harpers Drug Store, A&B Restaurant, the White Center Liquor Store, and in the West Seattle Herald office on and off in the mid- ‘50’s.

When asked how she was feeling during the reception she told friends, "I'm getting tired. No, I'm fine. I'm an ornery old bag."