Jessie Wanda Williams (née Crupe), known under the stage name Chickie Williams, (February 13, 1919 – November 18, 2007) was an American country musician from West Virginia who is best known for performing on the Wheeling Jamboree radio program on WVVA with her husband Doc Williams and their band the Border Riders.[1] In 1948, Williams' original arrangement of the hymn "Beyond the Sunset," was charted #3 in Billboard trade magazine's Top 100 Country Music Songs.[2][3]
Early life and family
editJessie Wanda Crupe was born in Bethany, West Virginia, in 1919. She married Doc Williams on October 9, 1939, in Winchester, Virginia, and they relocated to Memphis, Tennessee.[3][4] The next year they moved to Wheeling, West Virginia, to raise their family when Williams became pregnant with their first child. Wheeling remained her home for the rest of her life.[3][4] The couple had three daughters, Barbara, Madeline, and Karen, who were known on the air as "Peeper", "Pooch", and "Punkin".[2]
Death and honors
editWilliams died in November 2007.[2] In 2008 the state of West Virginia named a section of a road in Wheeling to be called "the "Doc and Chickie Williams Highway; Country Music Royal Couple."[5]
References
edit- ^ Goodnite, Abby Gail (November 5, 2014). "Doc Williams". e-WV. West Virginia Humanities Council. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
- ^ a b c Compston-Strough, Jennifer (November 21, 2007). "Jamboree Legend Chickie Williams Dies at 88". The Intelligencer / Wheeling News-Register. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
- ^ a b c "Biography". Doc and Chickie Williams Official Website. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
- ^ a b "Doc and Chickie Williams". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
- ^ "Country Singer Doc Williams Dies". CBS News. February 1, 2011. Retrieved 2 November 2015.