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Lady Vol Nation shows support for member in her final days

Through social media posts, flowers, cards and hospice visits, Lady Vol nation is showing their support as Edith Williams has done for them.

Edith Williams, known for her relentless efforts to bring back the Lady Vol brand, didn't find that calling until her late years, but that calling would go on to touch many lives. Now in her final moments, her family is realizing just how big of an impact she's made on the Lady Vol community.

WBIR first met 88-year-old Edith Williams at a private celebration to honor the return of the Lady Vol brand for all sports, as well as the most influential people in helping get the brand restored. Edith was one of those people.

“Most recently it's been the most popular thing to talk about has been the Lady Vols and her work gathering petitions and signatures on those petitions tirelessly for several years,” said her son Tom Williams. “But, before that she tirelessly did many other things.”

Some of those things included volunteering at Tennova Health hospital and selling Tupperware so successfully she was award appliances, vacations and even a car.

None of her accomplishments came as a surprise for those who knew her. After all, Williams learned how to fly a plane before she could even drive a car.

“She wants something done, it is going to get done with you or without you, but probably with you because she's going to encourage you all of the way to do it and to do it well," her son said.

Her family learned that firsthand when they discouraged her from relentlessly working on petitions to get the Lady Vol brand restored.

“We thought she was doing something that was a waste of time,” Tom said. “She impacted a lot more people than we could have ever known.”

It wasn't until this past week when she's been under hospice care that they realized how big of an impact she was able to make on the Lady Vol fan base.

“She found a way to make it happen. She really took that on as a goal to get that logo back, but it wasn't about her. With her, it was. I'm just helping out, there are a lot of people gathering these petitions and I want to be a part of that," Tom said.

She's a woman with a lot of passion and big heart. But now her heart is failing, and she doesn't have much longer to live. Through social media posts, flowers, cards and visits, Lady Vol nation is showing their support as she has done for them.

Edith even received flowers from a Lady Vol fan in New Jersey that she's never met.

“We're going to miss her. I don't think I know how much I'm going to miss her, but it's going to come soon," Tom said.

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