Donald Eliot Williams

Donald Elliot Williams passed away peacefully to be with his lord, the Almighty God, on December 3, 2024, at the California Armenian Home in Fresno, California. He was 91 years old and lived a long and productive life focused on serving the Lord and helping others.

Don was born on September 11,1933, in Lakeview, Oregon to Carl E. Williams and Jessie C. Williams. He was the youngest of three siblings, and had an older brother, Earl, and an older sister, Jean. Don married Betty James Sexton, from Scottsdale, Arizona, on August 1,1953. They attended Arizona State University, in Tempe, and in 1955, he earned a Bachelor of Arts in Physics with Distinction while she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Biology. In the summers, Don worked at his father's company, C.E. Williams & Sons, drilling water wells.

Don was a very religious man who dedicated his entire life serving the Lord. In 1956, he attended Southern California Bible College, in Costa Mesa, California. In 1959, he earned a Masters in Divinity from Fuller Theological Seminary, in Pasadena, California. While attending Fuller, in 1957, Don enlisted in the Department of the Navy as a Naval Reserve Chaplain.

Don and Betty’s strong commitment to serving the Lord prompted them to become missionaries in Taiwan. From 1959 to 1966, they worked for Mustard Seed, Inc., which was founded by Lillian Dickson. She invited them to preach and teach the gospel to aboriginal mountain people who lived in the remote hills of rural Taiwan. They were introduced to Pastor Tiu, a local religious leader, who knew the aboriginal mountain people and he joined them in these outreach efforts.

During their stay in Taiwan, Don and Betty adopted three Taiwanese boys who were only 1-2 years of age. With the assistance of Lillian Dickson, and Martha Sieh-Yu Hsu, who also worked at Mustard Seed, Inc., they successfully completed the process to have their three adopted sons, Jim, Philip (Skipper) and Donnie, become naturalized citizens of the United States of America (USA) in 1964 in Arizona.

In 1966, the William’s family permanently returned to the USA via an American President Line passenger ship. Arriving on July 4, 1966, they sailed under the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, California and were greeted with the extended family relatives after the ship docked at the port.

In 1967, Don served as Assistant Pastor at the Evangelical Free Church of America in North

Hollywood, California. In 1969, he did a clinical internship at the Neuropsychiatric Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). In 1971, Don earned a PHD in Clinical Psychology from Fuller Theological Seminary, in Pasadena, California.

Soon thereafter, in 1972, Don accepted a job as Clinical Psychologist for Kings View Community Services, Kings County Mental Health Services in Hanford, California. He moved the family to the Central San Joaquin Valley and in 1974, he successfully earned a professional license to practice Psychology from the California Consumer Affairs Board of Examiners.

In 1978, after all of their sons had graduated from high school, and were attending college, Don and Betty moved to Fresno, California where Don opened a private psychology practice specializing in family and child psychology. Don spent 20 years successfully helping families resolve their issues and he retired in 1998.

Don was an avid photographer and enjoyed traveling with his wife to Death Valley and Arizona to take photographs of nature and gaze at the stars at night. Don is predeceased by his parents, Carl and Jessie, Betty, his loving wife of 65 years, his siblings Earl and Jean, and his oldest son, Jim. He is survived by his middle son, Philip, and youngest son, Donnie and Maria and many beloved sister and brother in-laws, nieces, nephew and cousins.

In early 2025, a burial service will be held at the Camelback Cemetery in Scottsdale, Arizona, where Don will be peacefully laid to rest next to his loving wife, Betty.