By CatholicVote | Created at 2025-01-17 20:11:06 | Updated at 2025-01-30 19:17:00
1 week ago
CV NEWS FEED // Pro-life activist Geline Wiliams passed away Jan. 12 at the age of 100, the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC) reported this week.
“National Right to Life mourns the loss of a beloved pro-life leader,” President Carol Tobias of the NRLC said. “The impact Geline had on the founding of the pro-life movement and the work to protect women and their unborn babies cannot be overstated.”
Williams and her husband, Alex, founded the Virginia Society for Human Life (VSHL) in 1967, which is the NRLC’s oldest affiliate. The NRLC was founded the following year, and it is the oldest national pro-life organization, according to The Christian Post.
Williams also served as the Chairman of the Board of NRLC for three decades, NRLC’s website reported.
“National Right to Life will be forever indebted to Geline,” Tobias said. “Her guidance in the early years of the pro-life movement and her leadership on the NRLC Board of Directors set the foundation for the movement today.”
The Christian Post reported that Williams was a mother of five and a devout Catholic who attended daily Mass. Her husband died in 1996.
Williams noted that her faith sustained her during several tragedies, including the death of her brother during World War II, and the death of her mother.
“It’s just a strength you cannot define in a material way,” she said. “It’s just your strength and your hope and your love.”
The activist also served in her local community as a member of the City Council in Richmond, Virginia, from 1984 to 1994, and as mayor of Richmond from 1988 to 1990.
In 1985, Pope St. John Paul II awarded Williams the Benemerenti Medal, the highest possible honor for Catholic laity. The Modern Catholic Dictionary describes the medal as a “recognition of distinguished service in military or civil affairs.”
