John Williams knows what it’s like to struggle. He knows the heaviness of generational curses. He knows the value of hard work. He knows the importance of taking advantage when opportunities arise. He knows how to not be defined or confined by his circumstances.
He is the very definition of a “pull yourself up by the bootstraps” success story. Because he deeply understands both sides of that coin, Williams knows not just how to give but the underlying importance of it.
“If you can’t help your fellow man, what are you even working for,” said Williams, who with his wife of 52 years, Linda, owned and operated John and Linda Home Builders, Inc., out of Hurricane, West Virginia. “You just have to figure out where you want to give.”
Through their company and connections, the Williamses decided one of the places they would give was to MHN Foundations. Specifically, that includes an endowed scholarship for students at St. Mary’s School of Nursing and the John and Linda Williams Center for Education Food Pantry Endowment Fund.
Alcoholism ran strong in John’s family and forced his mother to separate from his father. She took him and his younger brother from Marlinton, West Virginia, to St. Petersburg, Florida, when he was a boy. Money was scarce and hunger was a reality. John went to work to help his mother pay the bills. There was a newspaper route, mowing yards, and riding his bike six miles to work at a golf club.
Then there was a solid job at the grocery store Publix as a teenager. He worked hard for tips and learned who gave them and how to earn them. During the summers he would visit his dad back in West Virginia and work in the hay fields.
After high school and a brief stint at a junior college, there were jobs in Milwaukee, California, and Virginia before landing back in West Virginia working in road construction. He worked hard and quickly learned how to manage people. It was during this time in his mid-twenties that Williams fortuitously met his future wife. Linda, who grew up the child of church pastor, was helping John’s mother, who had returned with substantial health problems. Linda was in an abusive marriage, but her family didn’t believe in divorce and offered no help.
John saw a young woman who was a devout Christian and kind enough to help his mother. He wanted to help her. They were eventually able to marry on John’s 28th birthday. They had no children together, but threw themselves into literally building a good life in the Kanawha Valley from Dunbar and Teays Valley to Hurricane and Milton.
“It’s been a good life,” Williams said. “It’s been hard work, and we’ve had our share of trials and tribulations. You know those wedding vows for better or worse, in sickness and in health, well we’ve been there and done all that.”
In the early years of marriage, they wanted to buy a home together but couldn’t find one they liked until they saw an advertisement for one in 84 Lumber. They built it and someone wanted to buy it. They sold it and built another.
“We just kept building and selling them,” John said. “Then we started buying up all the available lots. We were building five or six houses a year. Then I found a banker I could trust, Jack Wilson, who lent us the money to build our first subdivision, and we were on our way.”
They eventually got into doing office buildings, including building and leasing one to St. Mary’s Family Care Center, which was the beginning of an important relationship.
“It’s worked out well, and we’ve been able to give back and leave something for others,” John said.
“That’s how the St. Mary’s nursing scholarship began. We’re getting ready to endow a scholarship at Marshall, too. We have no children, and it’s not just about us. We don’t do it for any attention. We wanted a way to give back. You know what they say you can’t hitch a U-Haul to a hurst. I just thank the Lord that we’ve able to do it and we were frugal enough to save a little.”
The food pantry endowment came as result of the continuing desire to help others who may struggle with hunger, a feeling John personally remembers. He hopes others continue to donate to it, and he prays it makes a difference for struggling students and helps them keep going in tough times.
John credits his wife, hard work (keeping his “nose to the grindstone”), surrounding himself with quality people, and self-control for much of his success. He credits God for helping him defeat his demons and giving him a generous heart.
“God is the key,” he said. “One thing often leads to another, but you just give back what God gives you. It is rewarding. When you give back, it doesn’t have to be a lot. It can just be tithing a little more, giving to Little League, making a cake for a bake sale for the girl scouts. Whatever it is, it’s just good to give.”
That is something John and Linda Williams know well.
