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Richard Dennis Williams
Richard Dennis Williams died at his Woodland home Sunday, Nov. 2, 2003, at age 62.
Born April 4, 1941, in Green Castle, Ind., Mr. Williams had been a Yolo County resident for 28 years. He graduated from Redlands High School in 1959. He earned his bachelor's degree at Cal State, San Diego in 1965 and his master's degree at Chapman College. He was a probation officer of San Bernardino County and Yolo County and Welfare Fraud Investigator of Yolo County. After retiring, he was a building contractor, volunteer for the Red Cross and named volunteer of the year 2002 Yolo County Chapter of the Red Cross.
Survivors include his wife, Joan Williams of Woodland; daughter, Traci Long and husband Randy of Clovis; son, Christopher Williams of Corte Madera; granddaughter, Courtney Long of Clovis; and mother, Eleanor Williams of Redlands. He was preceded in death by his father, H. Dean Williams, in 1989.
The family requests memorials be directed to Yolo Hospice, P.O. Box 1014, Davis, 95616. Arrangements are under the direction of McNary's Chapel of Woodland.
Services: A funeral service is scheduled at 2 p.m. Friday, Nov. 7, at McNary's Chapel, 458 College St., Woodland. Burial will be held at 2:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 10, at Riverside National Cemetery.
WILLIAMS
Robert Joseph Williams
Robert Joseph Williams died in Woodland Friday, March 25, 2005 at age 75.
Mr. Williams was born June 27, 1929 in Mackie, Idaho. He had been a Yolo County resident for 51 years. He served in the U.S. Army Infantry during the Korean War. He worked for Pacific Telephone and Telegraph for 34 years and later owned Bob Williams Telephone Company of Woodland for eight years. He was a member of the Church of Latter-day Saints and the American Legion.
Survivors include his wife of 54 years, Constance J. Williams, also of Woodland; his daughters, Bobbie Heistercamp and her husband Mark of Citrus Heights and Carrie Zuwala and her husband Stephen of Woodland; his sons, Loren Williams of Woodland and Brian Williams and his wife Mary of El Macero; his grandchildren, Cheri Williams of Woodland, Hannah Heistercamp of Citrus Heights, Natasha and Taylor Zuwala of Woodland and Jaeli Williams of El Macero; his sisters, Joan Lee and her husband Curtis of Petaluma and Sherrill Francis of Las Vegas. He was preceded in death by his parents, Guy and Ilda Williams, his sister, Dorothy and his brother, Norman.
The family requests memorials in Mr. Williams' name be directed to the American Diabetes Association, 2720 Gateway Oaks Drive, Suite 110, Sacramento, 95833.
Services: A graveside service is scheduled for 10 a.m. Saturday, April 2 at Monument Hill Memorial Park, Woodland. Clergy from the Church of Latter-day Saints will officiate. McNary's Chapel is assisting the family with arrangements.
WILLIAMS
Sherrie L. Williams
Sherrie L. Williams died May 17, 2005, at her West Sacramento home. She was 50.
A memorial service begins at 11 a.m. Monday at Nicoletti, Culjis and Herberger Funeral Home, 5401 Folsom Blvd. in Sacramento. Interment will follow at Saint Mary's in Sacramento.
Born in Ventura on April 25, 1955, she graduated from Sawyer Business College in Ventura. She joined Blake's Heating and Air Conditioning in 1990, where she worked as an office manager for 15 years.
Her family says she was a loving grandmother to her four grandchildren and would spend every weekend with them.
She is survived by her children, Samantha Geisler of West Sacramento and Jarod Kimerer of Mesa, Ariz.; her parents, Gerald and Irene Williams of Ventura County; and her sisters, Debbie Vibbart and Carol Rohowits, both of Ventura County.
She is further survived by her grandchildren, Michael, Shelby, Sydney and Gianna Geisler, 11 nieces and seven nephews; and her extended family at Blake's - Mark Blake, Tom Butler, Brian Soggard and the rest of the crew.
WILLIAMS
Velma M. Williams
Velma M. Williams died on April 28, 2004. She was 96 years old.
Born on April 27, 1908, in White City, Kan., she was raised in Gridley and spent most of her life as a homemaker in Yuba City and Gridley. She lived in Dixon for six years, and most recently moved to the Covell Gardens retirement community in Davis.
She was preceded in death by her husband of 59 years, Henry L. "Bung" Williams, on Feb. 15, 1988.
She is survived by her son, Gene R. Williams of Petaluma and his wife Alice; and her daughter, Merle W. Huber of Dixon.
She is also survived by three granddaughters, Cynthia Lewis of Gridley, Kathryn Hansen of Berkeley and Carrie Tyler Johnson of Santa Rosa; and by six great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandson.
According to her wishes, a private graveside service will take place at Gridley Cemetery.
WILLIAMS
William "Bill" Arnold Williams
William "Bill" Arnold Williams died of cardiac arrest on May 21, 2003, at South Sacramento Kaiser Hospital. He was 80 years old.
Born in Johnson City, N.Y., on Aug. 2, 1922, he graduated from Johnson City High School in 1940 as valedictorian of his senior class. For a year after high school, he worked at the IBM factory at night to earn money for college.
For two summers, 1940 and 1941, he worked on a friend's family farm to gain experience in agriculture, which was a requirement for acceptance to Cornell University's Agriculture College. He enrolled in Cornell's agronomy department in 1941 and had the top grades in his freshman class.
During his freshman year, he met Pat Moore at a Quaker conference on causes of war; they marriage on Nov. 27, 1943, in Sage Chapel at Cornell while he was on a two-day leave from the U.S. Army. Williams was a second lieutenant with the field artillery and served in Okinawa during World War II.
He returned to Ithaca, N.Y., in August 1946 and joined Pat at Cornell to complete his bachelor's degree, master's degree and Ph.D. During this time, the couple had three children -- David, Kathy and Andy. He loved to take his family on outings and hikes.
Williams was hired by the UCD department of agronomy in April 1951. He became a full professor and, retiring after 41 years, was presented with three large volumes of his works. As a professor emeritus, he went to the office every day, including Sundays, for 11 years until a few weeks before he died.
Among his awards, he received a Fulbright Scholarship to Adelaide University, Australia, and took the family there for a year in 1966; participated on a National Science Foundation Amazon Alpha Helix research vessel expedition in 1967; was an academic assistant to Chancellor McCorkle in 1967-1968; and received NSF research grants in 1965-68, 1970-73, 1975-78 and 1979-82. In addition, he edited the agricultural section of the McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science & Technology for 18 years, resigning in December 2002.
He was a member of Alpha Zeta, Phi Kappa Phi, Sigma Xi, American Society of Agronomy, Soil Science Society of America, Society of Range Management, Association for Tropical Biology and the Mathematics Association of America.
He was a helpful, interesting and gracious person, especially with his students. He was a beloved mentor to many.
A prolific reader of books, scientific magazines and newspapers, he would clip articles to share with family, friends and colleagues. He learned to play tennis at age 40 and to downhill ski at age 50. In 1962, the family bought 5 acres at Fallen Leaf Lake in the Sierra Nevada as well as a one-room cabin nearby. Board by board, the family carried the cabin down Cathedral Mountain a quarter-mile to their property, where Williams built the cabin again. His favorite spring activity involved planting berseem clover at the university farm and planting corn, tomatoes and squash at home.
Under the auspices of the Yolo Community Care Continuum, which the Williamses helped create, Bill and Pat purchased or rented 10 buildings to provide services for mentally ill adults: The Farm House, Safe Harbor Crisis House, Haven House Social Center, Be House, Headway Vocational Center, Men's Co-op House for 5, Women's Co-op House for 3, The Light House Social Center, Pine Tree Gardens West, Pine Tree Gardens East and the recent purchase of property for a residential home for elder care.
In 1988, Williams started the Friday night singalong at Pine Tree Gardens, which continues today.
This spring, he received an award of honor from the American Society of Agronomy, given for his "advancement of human welfare and the enhancement of California agriculture." In November 2002, he and his wife received the Thong Hy Huynh Memorial Award from the Davis Human Relations Commission for their humanitarian work. They also were honored in October 2002 by the Yolo County Mental Health Services Agency "for their many years of dedication, endless courage, unlimited time and support for the mental health community of Yolo County."
A loving husband, father, son and big brother to two siblings, Williams is survived by his wife Pat; his daughter and son-in-law, Kathy and Dennis Fossdahl of Davis; his sister and brother-in-law, Jayne and Al Giffin of Port Ludlow, Wash., and Bend, Ore.; his brother and sister-in-law, Don and Luana Williams of Ann Arbor, Mich.; his brother-in-law James Moore and his wife Claire of Palo Alto; four nieces and 11 nephews.
He was preceded in death by his parents, William T. and Nellie Williams; his sons, David Williams in 1981 and Andy Williams in 1999; and his brother-in-law, Kenneth Moore in 1998.
Family and friends are invited to a viewing Thursday from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Davis Funeral Chapel, 116 D St. A memorial service will begin at 11 a.m. Friday at Davis Community Church, 412 C St., followed by the burial at 12:15 p.m. at the Davis Cemetery. All are welcome to a reception from 12:45 to 2 p.m. at the church Fellowship Hall.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to Pine Tree Gardens, P.O. Box 988, Davis, CA 95617.
WILLIAMS
Edward Stanford Williams
Edward Stanford Williams died in his Capay Valley home Saturday, April 5, 2003, at age 72.
Born Dec. 19, 1930, in Sacramento, Mr. Williams worked for state printing plant for California in 1954. He later became a pressman and retired in 1995. He served in the U.S. Navy.
Survivors include his wife, Frances Williams of Capay; brother, L.C. Williams of Sacramento; niece, Janet Manzitto of Manteca; nephews, James Williams of Seattle, Wash., Goegory Vellines and Russel Vellines, both of Sacramento; and Steven Vellines of Cottage Grove, Ore.
Arrangements are under the direction of McNary's Chapel of Woodland.
Services: Graveside services is scheduled at 2 p.m. Thursday, April 10, 2003, at Capay Cemetery.
WILLIAMS
Ellen L. Williams
Ellen L. Williams died Jan. 21, 2001, in the Woodland Memorial Hospital. Born May 20, 1927, to the late Jim and Nancy Warford in Fayetteville, Ark., she was 73.
She was a resident of Yolo County for 55 years. She worked at Contadina for more than 30 years. She loved sewing, quilting and crafting. She also loved making her grandchildren clothes.
She is survived by her children, Danny Smyth and wife Joanne; Dennis Smyth; Donna Kelso and husband Alan and Terri Wages, all of Woodland. She is also survived by her grandchildren, Tammy Crewdson, Lori, Crystal, Daniel and Katie Smyth, Chris Kelso, Buster Wages and Ellen Tatz; great-grandchildren, Jenna and D.J. Crewdson, Kortney Perry and Joseph Muzzi; her brother, Homer Warford, all of Woodland. She is also survived by numerous nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by her husband Daniel Smyth in 1953 and husband Buster Wages in 1961; brothers, Harvey, Elmer, Calvin, Harl and Leonard Warford.
Visitation will be held at McNary's Chapel on Friday at 1 p.m. and the funeral will be held at 2 p.m. Interment will follow the service at the Woodland Cemetery.
McNary's Chapel is assisting the family with the arrangements.
