Her Story

Ms. Diane Angie Pride Williams was born November 28, 1955 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She was the dearly loved,only child of the late Emanuel Pride and Angeline Sampson Pride. As many did at the time, Angeline and her younger brother Clarence left behind their mother and siblings in Jacksonville to move North seeking better opportunities. From the time she was an infant, Diane would travel with her parents "down South" to Jacksonville and visit with her mother's family. In Jacksonville Diane had a grandmother (Cora Sampson Leonard) and grandfather (Roy Leonard). There was her mother's brother, uncle M.T. (Matthew Sampson) and his wife, aunt Eloyce, aunt Etta Mae (her mother's sister), and cousins Gwen, Pat, Deborah, Wanda, Popa (Matthew) and Marsha. Her Jacksonville family always looked forward to visits from Diane and her parents. Tragically, three days before Diane's 5 th Birthday, her mother, Angeline, passed suddenly from a cerebral hemorrhage.

Everything changed in an instant for young Diane and her family. Her father agreed it best for Diane to move to Jacksonville under the primary care of her grandparents and aunt Etta Mae Williams who had no children. Etta Mae would later formally adopt Diane, thus the last name Williams. From her earliest days, Diane called Jacksonville, Florida home.

Grandma Cora was a strong, Christian woman in the Baptist tradition. She made sure Diane was in the Mt. Ararat Baptist Church every Sunday. When Diane became a teenager, she followed her cousins Wanda, Popa, and Marsha to Bethel Baptist Institutional Church where she was baptized, along with the three of them, by the late Rev. Robert H. Wilson.

Diane attended Public Schools in Duval County, and graduated from Jean Ribault High School in 1973. Immediately following graduation, she worked for a short time with Blue Cross Blue Shield Insurance Company. The real length, breath, and love of her work life was 30 years with the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta – Jacksonville Branch. Regardless of the position held, she could be counted on to give it her best. Her last position was Sr. Support Services Specialist – Facilities.

Diane was a very private person with a big heart and generous spirit. She loved her small family and cherished time with them, especially during vacation get-aways and holiday celebrations. She was a woman of faith who was fiercely independent and courageous. In the last year of her life, she battled cancer with dignity and determination. Diane passed peacefully in the early morning hours of March 6, 2025. She leaves to cherish her memory, first-cousin Marsha Sampson Johnson (Atlanta, Georgia), third- cousins Micah Patterson (Norfolk, Virginia) and Christian Patterson (Atlanta, Georgia), extended family members, friends, Federal Reserve Bank colleagues, and neighbors.