Walter John Williams
September 11, 1909 - April 17, 2006
Obituary
The life story of Walter Williams by his family
Dad was born on September 11, 1909 in Butte Montana. He was the only child of William and Stella Williams. Dad spent his early years in Butte among a large family of cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents. Dad was active in the Boy scouts of America. He completed a 10 year long program and received a certificate in leadership training. As a young man, he worked with Orphaned boys as part of his continuing Scout commitment.
He attended high school in Butte and Anaconda Montana, graduating in 1927. He attended the Montana School of Mines in Butte for a year; then transferred to the University of Montana where he earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Electrical Engineering in 1931. Dad continued his education and was accorded a Master of Science Degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Nebraska in 1932. Dad was a member of Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity, Tau Beta Pi, Phi Kappa Phi and Pi Mu Epsilon, the later three being honorary societies.
Dad married our mother Helen March 7, 1934 in Lincoln Nebraska. They started their life together in Glasgow Montana where Dad worked on the Ft. Peck Dam. They soon moved to Great Falls Montana were he worked for the Montana Power Company. They welcomed the births of their first two children Estell and Elaine while living in Great Falls.
Dad secured a position with Westinghouse Corp. and moved Helen and their 2 little girls to Seattle Washington. During his tenure in Seattle he worked on numerous paper mills, city light sub-stations, a mobile power plant “the power train” and most of the Dams along the Columbia River. Dad spent a fair amount of time on work related travel to Eastern Washington, Idaho and Alaska.
Dad and Mom were both very active in Masonic organizations. They also enjoyed family camping trips to the beach and to the mountains.
In the mid 1940’s Dad and Mom purchased a property with two small cabins on Camino Island as a summer home. Many of the happiest memories of the family were of time spent in these rustic cabins at the beach. Many hours were spent hiking in the woods, playing on the beach and family campfires.
Dad and Mom were blessed with three more children while residing in Seattle. Bill, Dewey and Cindy
Dad transferred to a new position with the Marine division of Westinghouse Corp. to Sunnyvale California in 1958. Mom went to California so she and Dad could purchase a new home; she passed away on June 25, 1958 shortly before the family relocated. Grandma and Grandpa Williams made the move to California to stay with dad and the three younger children as Estell and Elaine were in college in Seattle. During his career at Westinghouse he worked on several military programs including the Polaris nuclear powered submarine. Launching system for ballistic missiles from a nuclear powered submarine
His responsibilities included designing missile launching system wiring that would withstand the high temperatures and pressures within the launching tube.
His business travels took him often to the East coast, New England, Seattle and New Orleans. Dad was a member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Union for 69 years.
When Dad made up his mind that something was going to happen, he would not allow anything to get in his way. One year when the Mountain View Babe Ruth baseball league was struggling to survive, Dad “stepped up to the plate” as president of the league when no one else was willing to take on the challenge. Dad was quite proud and we were too that through a very strong and focused presidency he was able to bring the league back into “the black”.
Dad did enjoy using the element of surprise with us kids. One year Dad, Grandpa, Grandma and the three little kids were making a long awaited car trip to Disneyland. We drove for about 3 hours when his old car had transmission trouble. He had to turn around and return to Mountain View. The three kids were crushed and cried pretty much all the way home. When we got home, Dad went out without saying anything to us and came home shortly thereafter with a new car. We loaded up that afternoon and took off for Disneyland a few hours later. Even though there were torrential rain storms that flooded the roads and “pea soup” fog in Anaheim; our trip from the children’s point of view was a huge success.
Dad retired from Westinghouse with over 34 years of service in 1975. He moved, with his mother Stella, to Hamilton Montana where he had spent memorable summers at the ranch of his Aunt and Uncle as a child.
In 1980, Dad met Mabel Connell on a Nile Temple sponsored trip to the Orient. After a long distance courtship, he married “Our Mabel” November 28, 1981. In 1983 Dad and Mabel moved to Poulsbo, Washington were they resided for over 24 years. During their time in Poulsbo, Dad and Mabel enjoyed many overseas trips together including travels to the Orient, Russia, Europe, Central & South America, Mexico, Australia and Africa as well as many domestic tours. We lost Mabel January 12, 2006.
Dad lived a long and active life. His 96 years saw many changes in the world and he was always ready to banter with anyone on the politics of the time. He always enjoyed the challenge of finding inventive and frugal solutions to mechanical problems. He acquired a love of woodworking from his grandfather and perfected his skills, building much of the wood furniture in the family home. Over the years he won blue ribbons for his marquetry pictures wood inlay.
His greatest love was spending time with his family and long time friends. Dad passed away quietly on April 17, 2006 in Seattle Washington. He will be dearly missed by all.
Estell, Elaine, Bill, Dewey and Cindy
Til we meet again
John & Dar
Dear Family.
Our thoughts and prayers are with you all. Walter will always hold a special place in our hearts. He was a very special to us and his Christmas letters will be missed.
Love Mary Elizabeth & Bob