Brandon Purvis Williams

On Monday, August 22, 2022, Brandon Williams, beloved husband, son, father of two amazing children, and friend to so many, took his own life at the age of 43. There is no sense in this tragedy and none of us will ever truly know what led to this decision, but Brandon will forever be remembered by his family and friends for the man that he was and the things that he loved.

He will be most remembered for his boisterous laugh and giant smile. He quick-witted and possessed a sense of humor that came mostly in the form of commentary, much of which was inappropriate but almost always hilarious.

Brandon embraced life in so many ways. He loved to travel, to eat and to drink good wine - and even better if these three could be combined. Brandon loved skiing and encouraged everyone to come on trips with his family. He also loved scuba diving and would plan family vacations around potential dive sites and beaches. Brandon and his family had just returned from Belize the day before his death. While not able to dive himself during this particular trip due to his recovery from a broken leg, Brandon enjoyed his time with his family, sitting by the pool for a week, in and out of the water, occasionally calling to the bartender that “Rolly, my drink has a hole in it!” His kids got certified to dive during this trip and were so looking forward to future dives with their father.

Brandon’s favorite food was French fries, and he ordered them at every meal possible. Sometimes twice – “dessert French fries”. He once ate some else’s cold French fries in his sleep at his brother Dustin’s bachelor party; his brothers and friends made sure everyone knew about it. It took a long time and hard work and perseverance from all those that loved him, but he eventually learned to share his French fries. “Table fries”, as he would call them, not to be mixed up with “Brandon’s fries”. Brandon would laughingly tell everyone about “the Great French Fry Incident” – the biggest fight he ever had with his wife, over a McDonald’s French fry. Despite fiercely guarding his own fries, he sampled everything before the kids could, and would yell “daddy tax” or “a rat took a bite”.

Brandon loved the water. He was an accomplished swimmer, and won high school CIF championships in the 100 backstroke in 1996 and the 100 freestyle and 100 backstroke in 1997. He swam at Northern Arizona University for a year, and then transferred to California State University, Bakersfield for an additional two years, where he was part of a team that placed second in the national championships. He forced his kids to join swim team, promising them a constantly-moving target age at which they would be able to exercise the option to quit – first it was 10, then 12, then 16. He was never going to let them stop swimming so long as they lived at home, always hopeful they would develop the same love of swimming.

Dogs loved Brandon, but Brandon loved dogs even more. He loved to sit on the floor and wrestle with his two dogs. Dogs would walk up to Brandon and then roll over on their back. The neighbor’s dog would sit in the front yard and wait for Brandon to come out and give him attention. No dog in Brandon’s presence would go unloved, un-petted, or ignored.

Brandon loved his family. Brandon and his wife Julia met in 1999, towards the end of her freshman and his sophomore year of college. They loved telling people the competing stories of how they met and of their first “date”, where Brandon asked Julia out to spite his roommate, and “look where that got me”. Their marriage was a true partnership between two people who loved, understood, and respected one another. They were married for nearly seventeen years and have two beloved children together, Alex (age 12) and Emily (age 10). Brandon loved teaching Alex how to do things around the house. This summer Alex took the lead on rebuilding a table (with a lot of direction from Brandon); Brandon proudly showed the photo of the table to anyone who would look. Brandon and Emily shared a love of Formula 1 racing and would debate about drivers and tactics and what team they were rooting for.

Brandon was stubborn. Once he made up his mind, he wouldn’t change it or give on anything. When we speculate about what we could have done to prevent this tragic loss, we must remember this stubbornness, and how it is unlikely that anyone who knew him could have said or done anything that would have changed his mind.

Most of all, Brandon will be remembered for his big heart and big presence. Once Brandon decided that he liked someone, he would do anything to help them. He had a generous spirit and would do anything for his friends, even help them move or take them to the airport at ungodly hours. He enveloped everyone around him in bear hugs; hugging his kids “squishy bear” and “boo boo monster” brought him joy. To be drawn into a massive Brandon hug was a thing of comfort. He always chose the happiness of his family over himself. It defies reason that he truly believed ending his life would be the best for his family.

Brandon is survived by his wife, Julia, his two children, Alex and Emily, his mother, Diane Lass, brothers Dustin and Jon Williams, and his grandfather Don Purvis, and several nieces and nephews. Brandon was proceeded in death by his grandmother Eunice Purvis.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.beardsleymitchell.com for the WILLIAMS family.