Robert Glendinning Williamson

Robert Glendinning Williamson, 60, died on April 29th, 2026, in Islandton, South Carolina.

Robert was born on November 24th, 1965, in Savannah, Georgia. Son of the late Katharine Glendinning Cook and James Reid Williamson Jr., Robert was a graduate of the Baylor School in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and received his formal education at the University of Georgia in Athens, where he studied English. He was a member of the fraternity Sigma Alpha Epsilon, where he developed lasting friendships that endure to this day.

Robert loved Southern literature and history and hoped to be a writer after college. Instead, he took over the management of the family furniture business, which he expanded into The Glendinning Home Collection in Hilton Head and Bluffton, SC. He was a diligent entrepreneur who built a successful, innovative retail company that serviced clients in the Coastal Empire and other states in the U.S. After 2008, he studied forestry in Southern Georgia and later launched a startup called Glendinning Greens that sold produce from land he personally farmed in the Lowcountry.

Robert’s enduring loves were his children, friendships, animals, the outdoors, and the creative arts. He created many art pieces under the pseudonym of Willie Trout.

He leaves behind three children, his daughters; Marguerite Anthony Glendinning Williamson of San Francisco, CA, Halsey Frances Bousquet Williamson of Santa Monica, CA; his stepson, Franklyn Otakar Bakala and wife Charlotte Miller of San Francisco, CA. Robert is also survived by his brother, James Reid Williamson III of Savannah, GA and his half-sister, Catharine Parker Cook of the greater Hilton Head Area.

Robert was cherished for his clever, relentless wit, love of learning, boundless enthusiasm for life, sincere interest in others, and a uniquely irrepressible charm. He will be remembered as a loving father, friend, outdoorsman, and advocate for conservation in the South Carolina Ace Basin and greater Lowcountry.