James Grant Williams Jr. passed away Saturday morning after a long struggle with Diabetes. He is survived by his seven children--Terry, Alicia, Chris, Tres, Stacy, Rachel, Peter--and six grandchildren--Kai, Leon, Ava, Ben, Andre and Grant.
Jim was born in Plainfield, NJ, on February 4, 1950. He was the eldest of three sons and very much reveled in that fact. His hare-brained schemes, dirty tricks, and down-right stupid stunts are now precious memories that his brothers will forever cherish. As a young boy James and his family traveled all over the world, living in places such as Israel and Jamaica. He would recall these places with such fondness—eating warm pita with a cold coke in a bottle; or discovering a pristine beach untouched by human feet.
After his first enlisted tour of duty in Vietnam, Jim graduated from the University of Illinois at Champagne-Urbana in 1972 with a degree in Civil Engineering. Two more tours of duty in Vietnam found him a Bronze-star decorated Naval Officer stationed in the Philippines. There he met his wife and started his family. Five children and five years later, Jim retired from the Navy, planted his roots in San Diego, and had two more children.
He dedicated his life to his role as a father, giving the same grammar and math lessons seven times. He sat through nine graduations and who-knows-how-many school assemblies. He was a steady fixture at Clay Elementary, Horace Mann Middle and Crawford High. With an incredible total of 22 years with those schools, there Jim made many lifelong friends.
Everyone knew Jim as gregarious, kind, humble, brilliant, and absolutely hysterical. His words of wisdom were a guiding light--and the joke that would invariably followed--kept us all from going mad. Jim always made it a point to make everyone he encountered feel like the most important person in the world.
He was our father. He was our friend. He will be missed. A memorial service will be held at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Mission Valley on Saturday, February 7th, 2009 at 11am: 4195 Camino del Rio South, San Diego. His remains will be interned at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery at a later date.
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Our family sends out our deepest gratitude for all condolences. In lieu of flowers, as our father would have requested, buy yourself something nice or take a great vacation and enjoy time with your family.
