David Williams

Our father passed away on Christmas Day at the age of 85. His dad left the family when he was a young child leaving his mom to care for four children on her own. A year or two later they moved to his uncle Virgil's farm. Virgil was a hardworking, no-nonsense type of man who would pull giant dairy bulls around by a metal ring in their nose. One would often be under a tree in the front yard when we would visit as children. Virgil was his parenting role model who, most simply put, could be described as tough but fair. In one of our final conversations, we told dad that Virgil struck us as the type of man who when he said jump you said, "How high"? Dad said, "No, that is not accurate". You knew exactly how high to jump and time wasn't wasted asking. Asking how and why with our dad wasn't always the best game plan either. When he said something needed to be done an explanation was a luxury you were not often afforded.

Dad met our mom at the U of M when she was 18 and he was 23, they married a year later. Theirs was an old-fashioned love affair, when she passed although he was still relatively young, we all knew he would never marry another. Our dad's world was black & white with very few greys. There was good and evil, wrong, and right, honesty and falsehoods with little wiggle room in-between.

Born a year before the Great Depression ended and three years before America entered WW II, he was a product of what many consider our greatest generation and was raised with their values. Very rarely complained, would work till he was ready to drop and if a friend or family member needed help, he would do what he was able. I think our dad missed the farm as an adult. We would pass by their barns and fields, and he would comment on the smell of the silage or the golden hue of the soybeans. We think the farm gave him memories of comfort and security. Growing up, a pair of mourning doves had a nest outside his bedroom window, early in the morning they would begin cooing as the sun rose, he forever associated their song with being comfortable and warm in his bed. He took a job as a Jr. High science teacher which he held for over thirty years, but the farm kid never left him.

We hated to see him go but the last few years had become a never-ending battle, recovering from one infection only to take on another a week or two later. He held on for his family's sake more than any real desire to carry on of his own. Being taken Christmas Day was God's last, best gift to him on the most special of all days. He is now reunited with loved ones and his suffering is over for this we are grateful. Our dad passed on many attributes to his son's, a strong work ethic, an appreciation of nature and the unlimited possibilities of space, a joy of reading and an inquisitive mind. Gather the facts and reach your own conclusion, there may be more than one solution to a problem. These attributes have served us well and we will do our best moving forward to honor the man who instilled them in us. God bless.

Funeral services will be held at 11:00 am on Saturday, January 6, 2024 at Ranfranz and Vine Funeral Home (5421 Royal Place NW, Rochester, MN 55901). Visitation will be one hour prior to the service. Burial will be at Our Saviors Lutheran Cemetery in Spring Valley, MN.