David Kent Williams

David Kent Williams was born on May 28, 1951, in Merced, California to James Kent Williams and Ruby Mae (Zweimiller) Williams. He was the oldest of four brothers. He graduated from Merced High School in 1969 and moved to Olympia, Washington. On December 18, 1970, he married the love of his life, Lois Ellen Dodson. Together they had two children, Jena Marie Williams and Bradley David Williams.

David had many interests. He enjoyed scuba diving and made many dive trips both in Puget Sound waters and also on vacation in Hawaii and the Caribbean. He especially enjoyed diving when Brad was old enough to join him.

David loved music and usually had a guitar handy to strum and sing along to. Around a campfire he could play by ear almost any country western, 50s rock, or gospel song requested. He also enjoyed performing worship music in church and for a few years he sang in a gospel quartet.

David was a cowboy at heart and always owned a horse. For many years, he rode with the Thurston County Sheriff’s Posse and performed in the drill competitions and parades. He also enjoyed participating in team penning and sorting events. But best of all was trail rides with friends and family. He loved old western movies and the cowboy stars like Roy Rogers and John Wayne. He listened to old western groups like the Sons of the Pioneers and was thrilled to see them perform live in Nashville and Branson.

David loved having animals - especially his little Scottie dogs (he had three over the years) and the goats a grandson gave him for Christmas. One year, he and Lois even tried raising emus - the big birds were great fun, but not very profitable.

He and Lois liked to spend vacations camping, sometimes with the horses and sometimes with the grandkids. The grandkids knew that water battles would ensue when he joined them in the lake. And the day would end around a campfire with Grandpa playing the guitar and singing songs while everyone toasted marshmallows.

David loved the pies made first by his grandmother and then his wife, but Jena's pies topped them all. The only hard part was deciding between apple and blackberry.

He started counting down the days until Christmas the moment the first rain drop fell in the fall. It was a family event to cut down a Christmas tree each year. He couldn’t wait for the tree to be up so he could set up the train and have the grandsons over to run the train.

During the 70s, 80s, and 90s, David worked in banking and mortgage lending in Thurston County. Later he worked for the state of Washington as a revenue agent and fraud investigator at the departments of Community, Trade and Economic Development, Social and Health Services, and Labor and Industries. He retired from the state in August 2016.

David’s greatest love was for his savior, Jesus Christ. He had accepted Jesus as a teenager, but then drifted away. In his later years he again responded to the call upon his life. He went back to school and earned a Bachelor of Science in Theology in May of 2010. He was ordained as a minister with the Church of God and served as a part-time pastor to Church of God churches in Bremerton and later Tacoma/Puyallup. In 2015, he was ordained by the Church of the Nazarene with the hope of starting a Cowboy Church in southern Thurston County. He was also a commissioned chaplain with the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office.

David passed into heaven on November 4, 2016, and is survived by his wife, Lois Williams, his daughter, Jena Williams; his son, Bradley Williams and his wife, Rebecca (Beverly) Williams; five grandchildren that he adored, Zachary Michael Jones, Ryan Bradley Williams, Wyatt Daniel Pratt, Simeon James Williams, and Anna Magara Williams; three brothers, Gary Dean Williams (his wife, Gail), Steven Mark Williams, and Dennis Lee Williams (his wife, Vonda), his aunt, Marilyn Pittenger; his uncles, John Barrass (his wife, Barbara) and Ralph Barrass (his wife, Pat) and numerous cousins, nieces, nephews and friends.

A memorial service will be held at Mountain View Church of the Nazarene in Tumwater, Washington on Saturday, November 12, 2016, at 1:00.

A private, family graveside service will be held at 2:00 on Thursday, November 10, 2016 at Mills & Mills Funeral Home and Memorial Park.

Arrangements under the direction of Mills & Mills Funeral Home and Memorial Park, Tumwater, WA.