St. Anne-Pacelli student was a ‘blessing’ who shared faith with others, parents say
As they sat in pink shirts, the favorite color of their late daughter London Skye Williams, Vernon and Dondra Williams spoke fondly about their child, who they say believed in the love of God and expressed that love to others.
London, 10, had just completed her first week of 5th grade at St. Anne-Pacelli Catholic School in Columbus when she accidentally drowned on Aug. 13. Her parents said she likely fell while getting into a bathtub. She was flown to an Atlanta hospital where she died two days later.
Through tears, Dondra said the pain she felt was unimaginable.
”It’s not the natural order,” she said. “It’s truly no words for how this feels as a mother.”
As news of London’s death spread on social media, the Williams family said the support they received from the St. Anne-Pacelli and Columbus communities was a testament to London’s faith and her path to learning God’s love through the actions of others.
“I will always look back and remember the day London asked to be baptized,” Dondra said. “She had been sort of nagging me for some time so I sat her down and asked her ‘London, why do you want to be baptized?’ She looked at me crazy and said, ‘Well Mommy, if I don’t get baptized, how will God be able to understand my love for him?’”
Miracle child
The youngest of seven children, London was a miracle child, her father said.
The couple went through in virto fertilization, or IVF, treatments with a few complications along the way. When Dondra finally conceived, Vernon said that doctors told them that their baby, who was mistakenly deemed a boy, had no heartbeat.
“I told the doctor they needed to check again because God told us that we were going to have this baby,” Vernon said. “They also told us we were going to have a boy so we planned to name our boy Maxum, which stands for the greatest.”
But on June 7, 2011 in Fort Hood Texas, they ended up with a baby girl who was 11 years younger than her closest sibling and without a name. As the couple spent hours combing through baby name books, Dondra said that one call from her mother solved their problem instantly.
“The year was 2011 so it was announced that the Olympics would be happening the following year in London,” Dondra said. “My mom called me and said ‘How do you feel about the name London?’ I asked my husband and he agreed so it was perfect.”
Her middle name was originally left up to her six siblings but Dondra said that she got inspiration from simply looking up: “I looked up at the sky and said to myself ‘London Skye’ and that’s how she became London Skye Williams.”
Finding her place
As a military kid, London grew up resilient. She began reading by the age 3 and spent many days “working” as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army, thanks to Vernon.
“I used to take her to work with me when she was younger and it eventually got the the point that she thought she actually worked alongside me,” Vernon said. “She was so into it that for Christmas one year, we got her an entire major uniform with her name and rank. When I was stationed at Maxwell Air Force Base, we actually ‘commissioned’ her into the United States Army and she was so proud to serve.”
When it came time for Vernon to retire from the military, they settled on Dondra’s hometown of Columbus and moved to the city in 2019.
Despite leaving her friends and previous school behind, London was excited to move to Columbus and be near her large, close-knit family. Her parents interviewed with a few private schools in the area, but settled on St. Anne-Pacelli.
“She was already familiar with the private school setting and we really wanted her to have a Christian-based school,” Vernon said. “The school at our church (New Birth Outreach Church) was only for boys so we interviewed St. Anne-Pacelli and, even though we are not Catholic, felt that the school there had the core values that we wanted in London’s life.”
London began to find her place in her new community, her parents said. As a special treat for London’s 10th birthday, Dondra said they threw a three-day celebration starting on June 7.
“We always had a party for her but when we first moved here in 2019, she didn’t really have friends so we did a family birthday,” Dondra said. “The next year, COVID happened, so we did nothing at all, so this year we went all out.”
London and her friends celebrated by dancing the weekend away at an exercise dance-themed party at Novo Fitness Studio before heading to the Williams’ home to mark London’s entry into double-digits.
It was the last birthday London would celebrate.
As hundreds showed up to a vigil held at St. Anne Pacelli Sunday dressed in pink, Vernon said the color represented more than just London’s favorite.
“It became a symbol of love. All of London’s love,” Vernon said. “It feels so good to know that so many people can see how much love London had inside her.”
As they sat together this week, hand in hand, the Williams said they know and understand that London’s life was truly a blessing.
“She may have only been here for a moment, but that moment she was here was a blessing,” Vernon said. “They told us from the beginning she had no heartbeat, yet God told us she would live. We will continue to trust in Him as we remember her.”
