City of Oaks Funeral Home & Cremation

Obituary
Gwendolyn Brown Williams

Rocky Mount, North Carolina

Age 77.
Died 07/19/2023.

Gwendolyn Brown Williams
Gwendolyn B. Williams, age 77, who resided in Rocky Mount, formerly of Gold Sand, NC, has passed away on July 19th, 2023 at 11:12pm surrounded by her family. She was a graduate of Gold Sand High School class of 1964. Thereafter, she worked as a Bookkeeper & Office Manager in Rocky Mount, NC for Arrow, Inc. for Guy T. Tutterow Sr. in 1983 where she continued to be his caregiver & friend until he passed in 2017. She was a Chow Chow lover & fur mom of 8 dogs over the span of 42 years. Kiara being her heart in her last days. She said a house is not a home without her Chow Chows & a little dog hair in it.

She was preceded in death by her husband Grady M. Williams, whom she met through her brother. They were married for 47 years & they had a wonderful, unique & free spirited daughter Alicia Williams, who resides in Leland, NC. Three beautiful & intelligent grandchildren, Casey Mathias, resides in Clayton, NC with her husband Tim Mathias; Chase Brantley, who has been her companion & most recently her caregiver for the past 2 years in her home; Cailee Williams who has been her purpose & anchor since she was 14 years old. Lastly, her great grandson Eli who she absolutely adored.

Gwen constantly put others before herself, even when it wasn’t in her best interest. She was a giver & doer for others, she never skipped a beat & stayed drinking her Diet Sundrop & eating Chocolate almost every day. She was one tough lady who fought long & hard. She passed peacefully at home, in her bed, with her family surrounding her with love, while Kiara was cuddled up in her lap just as she wanted.

Gwen never wanted to be the center of attention ever in life so as her last wishes she didn’t want any funeral services for her passing. The immediate family will do a celebration of life in the future to honor her life. The family wants to thank everyone for the love & prayers, they are greatly appreciated. If you would like to do something in her memory, she donated & advocated for the fur babies of the ASPCA her entire life. She would be honored to have donations sent to the ASPCA in her memory.

For additional information or for service details, please reach out to the family directly.


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City of Oaks Cremation and Funeral Home is a full-service funeral home in Raleigh, serving all of North Carolina and beyond. We provide an alternative to costly funeral homes and every day we help families in Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill and all over North Carolina make simple, affordable funeral arrangements.

Simply having to reach out to a funeral home can feel overwhelming. Our goal is to simplify the entire funeral home experience and make the process as easy as possible. We hope to eliminate any unnecessary surprises by publishing our total cost and the services we provide directly on our website. All of our obituaries are provided free of charge as a way to help families celebrate and commemorate the lives of their loved ones.

Our Promise

Apples to Apples

Just like all other licensed funeral homes in North Carolina, City of Oaks Cremation, LLC is regulated by the NC Board of Funeral Service.


The same laws that apply to the big corporate funeral homes also apply to the modest independently owned firms like ours. All crematories in North Carolina, regardless of who owns them, are inspected annually by the state and must adhere to the same rules and laws.

Genuine Care

We're committed to providing families within our community unsurpassed service before, during and after the time of loss.


Our staff will provide clear communication to your family through each step as we move forward from the original phone call notifying us of a death to the time we deliver the urn back to your family. We will treat your family with the utmost respect, as we honor the wishes of your loved one.


We promise to make this process affordable and as endurable as possible.

State Wide

Our Funeral Home is located in Wake County NC; however, we provide our services to families throughout the entire State.


Unlike other funeral homes, we don't charge an additional mileage fee. Regardless of what county you live in, we can help your family with making simple, affordable funeral arrangements. From Asheville to Wilmington, we're proud to help families statewide.

Our Services

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Direct Cremation

$1196.75

Nobody likes surprise costs added in at the last minute. We guarantee you will not find any hidden charges here. We include everything you need for a simple or direct cremation. Simple, affordable and reliable. We have not changed the cost of our direct cremation service since we opened City of Oaks in 2012.

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Cremation with Solidified Remains

$2875.66

We offer the option of choosing how you receive your loved ones remains. Selecting our Direct Cremation with Solidified Remains option is a beautiful way to transform cremated remains into 40-60 “stones” that you can hold.

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Cremation with Visitation

$1917.84

City of Oaks Funeral Home and Cremation provides an affordable cremation option with onsite visitation. Nobody likes surprise costs added in at the last minute. We guarantee you will not find any hidden charges here. Simple, affordable and reliable.

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Immediate Burial

$2497.50

An immediate burial has the same end result as a traditional burial; however, we have eliminated the extra (sometimes unnecessary) services prior to getting to the cemetery. Not everyone wants an open casket for viewing or a limousine for the family. Despite the term immediate, we can move as fast as you need or as slow as you like. This option simply allows you to save money by eliminating some of the fancy extras at the funeral home.

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Traditional Funeral

$5866.98

We offer the same traditional funeral services as the big corporately owned funeral homes in the area; however, we cost about half the amount. You might consider a traditional funeral service if your family is looking for an open casket visitation, a traditional church service or a funeral service in the funeral home's chapel. A traditional funeral service can be altered to fit the needs of your family.

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Green Burial

$3033.75

This establishment is one of a select number of funeral homes who meet the criteria for providing green funeral service by the Green Burial Council; a tax-exempt, nonprofit organization working to encourage environmentally sustainability in the field of funeral service. Our Green options allow for a funeral to take place without the use of toxic and non-biodegradable materials/chemicals.

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Aquamation

$2640.59

As an alternative to traditional cremation, City of Oaks Funeral Home also offers Aquamation. The Aquamation process, often referred to as alkaline hydrolysis, uses a solution of water and potassium hydroxide to facilitate natural decomposition.

City of Oaks Funeral Home & Cremations