Donald and Gayle Williams talk about the joy their daughter Rebecca brought to their lives

Our most poignant memory of our daughter Rebecca is that of a lovely young lady, eleven years of age, with gorgeous sun-blonde hair and beautiful blue eyes, who said, "Look Daddy, my finger twitches."

This involuntary movement of the index finger of Rebecca's right hand was the first physical manifestation of a childhood brain tumor which devastated this beautiful young life. Before the tumor could be diagnosed, most fine motor movement of Rebecca's right hand was lost. The craniotomy to remove the very large tumor resulted in the further loss of motor skills use of her right leg, losses in speech and other areas. Radiation to assure complete tumor removal caused permanent hair loss.

In spite of such overwhelming obstacles, Rebecca re-learned to walk, talk and think and was able to return to her seventh-grade class within six weeks' time. She switched from right-handed to left-handed and developed a glorious indomitable spirit that carried her physically challenged lifestyle through grade school, high school, learning to drive, and finally her college degree from the University of Southern Indiana, then known as Indiana State University-Evansville. This "glorious indomitable spirit" of Rebecca's shone brightly every day of her life, in her love of life and others and in the love, inspiration and admiration of everyone she met. Her marvelous sense of humor and personal warmth was loved by all.

As a young adult, Rebecca became the night supervisor of the Library at the University, responsible for the building and the health and life safety of the students and patrons of the Library for more than ten years.  The Library, its staff and patrons were the love of her life and the pride and joy of her existence until her death in April 2005, caused by a second brain tumor at the age of thirty-nine. We established the Rebecca G. Williams USI Library Fund in honor of her great life accomplishments and love of the Library.

This fund, established with the Posey County Community Foundation, is one of the first endowment funds for the new David L. Rice Library on the University campus, which opened in 2006. The fund's proceeds will allow the Library to provide, in perpetuity, special services and funding for staff and student-worker training, public programs, including materials and events of any description, for the enlightenment and enjoyment of the entire USI community and of all surrounding communities.

This fund is a wonderful legacy in honor of Rebecca. She would be proud and delighted to be serving her University and Library forever!