James Walter Williams III

Jim was born on April 17, 1928 and passed away on March 27, a few days shy of his 91st birthday and one day before he and his wife’s 66th anniversary. She is Marilyn Munger Williams, from Santa Paula. He had been a citrus and avocado grower for all of his life. While his father was away, Commander of Hilo Airstrip in Hawaii during WWII, he and his mother ran the citrus ranch in Downey. He was drafted into the army after graduating from Pomona College in Claremont and served a year in Korea. Jim was a good gambler. He knew when to take risks with his ranching and where to buy and expand his acerage.

Jim and his partners Hank Brokaw and Paul Leavens went up north to the Monterey area, specifically Soledad and scoped out some property where they have been successful with their citrus ranching endeavors. They truly pioneered the citrus industry in that area. Jim was on the Board of Directors of Sunkist Growers for years as well as several of the Boards of Ventura County citrus packing houses.

He loved the Dodgers, plain and simple. He could quote the stats and enjoyed talking about the team players with family and friends. We chided each other that he was holding out for opening day, to pass away. He loved playing golf at Saticoy Country Club where he and his partners always walked the course. They called him the animal because he carried his bag. They usually had small side bets on each hole. His love for the game of golf was shared by other family members and Texas scrambles were one of the highlights on family vacations. He was an awesome husband, dad and grandfather.

Besides his wife, he has left behind one daughter, Jill Bookwalter, husband John, two sons, Kirk Williams, partner Debbie Violini, Jaimie Williams, wife Kelly, three grandchildren, Brock Bookwalter, Justin Violini, Kori Violini, and one great-grandchild, Easton Violini - Jones.

A celebration of life will be held on June 1st, 11:30 AM at Limoneira, 1141 Cummings Rd. Santa Paula, CA.

RSVP to [email protected]

Memorial donations can be made to: housefarmworkers.org

House Farm Workers

P.O. Box 402

Santa Paula, CA 93061