Kathryn Louise Williams, our beloved mother and grandmother, died March 6, 2005 at Kadlec Medical Center, Richland, Washington. Kathryn was born to Vivian and Selden Andrews in Portland, Oregon on March 22, 1925. She attended Rose City Park Elementary School and Grant High School in Portland, and graduated from Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington in 1947 where she was a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority. At Whitman, she met David E. Williams, her husband of 57 years, and moved with him to Missoula, Montana, working as a university secretary while David attended law school. After law school, Kathryn and David moved with their new baby to New York City so that David could continue his legal education in labor law at NYU. Kathryn and David were happy to return to the Pacific Northwest in 1950, and they settled in the Tri Cities area to raise their family. They lived in the Tri Cities until their recent deaths. Kathryn was a friendly, outgoing woman of many talents, and she had a multitude of friends, old and new. People were drawn to Kathryn, and she “never met a stranger.” She especially enjoyed friendships sustained for many long years with the ladies in her bridge club, her antique club, her tennis group and all of her Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority sisters. Kathryn spent many years as an active and interested participant in the Tri Cities community, including her involvement in the League of Women Voters, the Democratic Party and the Tri Cities Symphony Guild.
Kathryn played the piano and sang beautifully, and music was a big part of her life. She shared her love of music with all of her children and grandchildren, some of whom inherited her talent, and some of whom did not, but none will ever forget the family sing-alongs around the piano. Above all, Kathryn was the heart and soul of her family, and it is impossible to describe how much she will be missed. She was a mother and grandmother extraordinaire. While raising her three children, Mardi, Kim Rob Williamson and David Nancie Boccio, she was enthusiastically involved in all of their activities, from being scout and campfire leader, room mother, Job’s Daughter music director, chauffer to countless athletic practices and competitions, to providing for her family’s every need. Just as Kathryn embraced motherhood, she embraced her role as grandmother to her five grandchildren, A.J. and Ann Giesa, Jessica and Vanessa Williams-Hall and Cat Williams, and she was never happier than when surrounded by her children and grandchildren. Kathryn set high standards for herself and her family, and always encouraged them to do their best, while making it clear she would be there for them no matter what. Kathryn was an avid mystery reader and loved cross word puzzles. She was a sports enthusiast, especially enjoying, with David, Huskie football games and their children’s and grandchildren’s athletic events. She also loved her frequent visits to the Oregon Coast where she and David had a condominium at Tolovana. Words cannot express what her family and the world have lost with Kathryn’s death, but it is a comfort to know that she is with David again, and that their separation, while difficult, was brief. Kathryn was also preceded in death by her parents and her brother, Donald Andrews.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests a donation in Kathryn’s memory be made to the American Heart Association Go Red For Women Movement at 1-888-694-3278, or www.americanheart.org. A graveside service is planned for Friday, March 11th at 1:00 p.m. at Sunset Memorial Gardens, 915 By-pass Highway, Richland, Washington.