Williams, who officially celebrated 60 years in the role Sept. 5, received a special presentation during the church’s worship service Sunday, Oct. 5.

Williams, who officially started as an organist for the church Sept. 5, 1965, said her first education came via the piano when she was in the first grade in the late 1950s. She said at some point she was approached by the minister’s wife to learn the organ. She said her training in the organ was a bit more difficult than the piano because playing the organ well requires an “organ touch.”

“It (the organ touch) isn’t really something you learn, it is something you have you just have to feel,” she said. “It is a lot more difficult to learn, but once you get the organ touch it becomes easier.”

Williams explained that with an organ you not only have keys, but you also have foot pedals. In fact, the foot pedals are such an important part of playing an organ that Williams said for her entire career she plays the organ barefoot so as to feel the foot pedals better.

She said when she got her start as the organist for the church she was only 14. Over the last 60 years she has played the organ at over 300 weddings, 500 funerals and over 2,000 services. She said that she has effectively been the longest serving employee at the church and has overlapped with 18 different ministers during her time serving Friedens.

One of the things she enjoys is being there for people during their happiest of times and helping to lift them up in the worst of times.

She did say one of the toughest parts of the job is playing funerals for families of people she knows.

“When it is someone like that it’s difficult to know I am playing the right thing to comfort them, that is hard to do sometimes,” she said.

She said one of the things she loves most about her service at Friedens is how welcoming and accepting her church family is. She recounted a story during her early years as the organist when she accidentally played the wrong hymn, which left her with the thought that maybe she should give up being the church’s organist, but a fellow member of the congregation came up to her and told her, “if anyone can do any better, let them come up here and try.”

“They make a huge difference,” she said of her fellow church members.

Williams, who plays the organ every Sunday at the church, said the hymns she performs are different every single day. Over the years she estimates that she has played between 700 and 800 different hymns, though her favorites include the older hymns such as “Amazing Grace” and “How Great Thou Art.”

Her love for the organ runs deeply.

“I love playing,” she said. “I love to hear the compliments. It makes me feel good.”

In addition to her long career as the organist at Friedens, Williams also worked as a teacher of first grade students for a long time. She taught 32 years in Troy and then was a substitute teacher at the Warren County R-III school district for 10 years and then served there another 10 years as a volunteer. She said she always loved working with the students during her time as a teacher.

“They always lift your spirits,” she said of the children she taught.

She has been married to her husband Dennis for 49 years and has two children who live in Warrenton and two grandchildren. She also said she has another daughter and grandson as well.

Friedens Pastor Jeremy Carr, who has been at the church for about 10 months now, said that Williams was, “the most beneficial person in terms of getting settled.”

He described her as the matriarch of the church and said that she is a wonderful resource because she knows everyone in Warrenton.

Carr was part of the celebration honoring Williams at the church, which he said was spearheaded by Guy Schreck, a lifelong friend of Williams, who approached the leadership of the church about honoring Williams for her service.

In addition to a plaque honoring Williams, the church also decided to name the organ she has played for 60 years “The Peg.”

“It is one of those lighthearted and sincere gestures,” he said of naming the organ after her.

“She is universally loved,” Carr said of Williams.

Carr said Williams is on the church council and is the head of the church’s fellowship committee.

“She is the best recruiter in church,” he said. “All she has to do is ask and people help. She has a warm personality. She is just an all around good person.”