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'''Dr. Grier Moffatt Williams Sr.''' (June 19 1931 - April 19 2004) was a music director and educator best known for his 17-year tenure with the [[Pensacola Symphony Orchestra]]. He also served as choir director of [[First Presbyterian Church]] for 20 years.
==Early Life, Family, Education, and EducationEarly Career==
Williams was born on June 18, [[1931]] in Tampa, Florida to Jonathan Beatty Williams (1903-1978) and Mary Agnes Moffatt Williams (1904-1988). His father was a Biology teacher at H.B. Plant High School in Tampa, before he opened a surgical supply store in Jacksonville, where Grier partially grew up. Grier spent his formative years in Palma Ceia, before briefly living in Miami. Grier then moved to Jacksonville, where he learned trumpet and attended Robert E. Lee High School. Grier was a member of the band at Lee High, playing his instrument of choice. Williams came from a musical family. His father was a bassist and his mother was a singer.
Williams's maternal grandfather, James S. Moffatt (1860-1922), was the president of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erskine_College Erskine College] in South Carolina from 1907 until 1921. Williams's great-grandfather, W.M. Grier (1843-1899), served as President, as well as his great-great grandfather, R.C. Grier (1817-1871), and grand-uncle, R.E. Grier (1881-1974). Two of Grier's maternal uncles, Dr. James S. Moffatt Jr. and Dr. L. Gaston Moffatt were College Professors, with the latter teaching internationally in Spain. A paternal great-great grandfather of Williams, Dr. Archibald Barron, was a signer of the 1860 South Carolina Ordinance of Seccession, an important document that was influential in the beginning of the Civil War.
Williams attended Davidson College, where he met his wife, [[Louise Harvin Williams|Louise Harvin]], a second-generation teacher, who was earning a degree in education at that pointat Queens University of Charlotte. Louise, like her furture future husband, was a musician, playing the piano. While attending Davidson, Grier played in the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra and Charlotte Opera Orchestra. During the summer, he taught at the Transylvania Music Camp (now the Brevard Music Center).
==Later Career==After earning his bachelor degree of arts in music, Williams played in the Army Band for two years. Williams founded the [[UWF Music Department|Music Department]] of the nascent [[University of West Florida]] in [[1967]] and helped it earn national accreditationin 1971.Williams retired as the Chairman of the Music Department
In [[1979]], he was asked to serve as interim music director and conductor of the [[Pensacola Symphony Orchestra]]. Under his leadership, the PSO broadened its repertoire, increased ticket sales, and moved its performance venue from the [[Pensacola High School]] auditorium to the newly-renovated [[Saenger Theatre]] in [[1982]].