The daughter of Joseph Remus Langlinais and Ophelia LeBlanc Langlinais, Ophelia was born in 1905. In search of a better life, the family moved to Biloxi to work in the seafood factories. Their first homestead was in the “seafood camps” on East Beach. At the age of 19, she married Carroll “Peck” Williams and began her family to include four children. By 1934, she and Peck were partners in the DeJean Seafood Factory for which Peck managed crews and built boats. One such boat was a Biloxi lugger named the OPHELIA WILLIAMS. After several years of working the Gulf waters, the vessel caught fire and having been badly damaged, relocated to Deer Island where it remained until it was washed away by Hurricane Camille.
Not long after the fire, a new OPHELIA WILLIAMS was built. This vessel caught the eye of artist Joe Moran whose rendering was featured on the cover of the area’s Bell South phone book. Such was her knowledge of the seafood industry in Biloxi’s heyday, Ophelia was featured in the documentary “The Biloxi that Seafood Built” which is still proudly aired at the Maritime & Seafood Industry Museum.
Ophelia Williams remained a dedicated Biloxian and faithful member of St. Michael Catholic Church until her death in 1995. Her legacy and contributions live on through the Heritage Hall of Fame and her video testimony.
