Thomas Williams

Thomas John Williams, Jr., beloved husband, father, and grandfather, died at home in Vernal, Utah, on Friday, September 14, 2012, at the age of 93. Dad left a wonderful legacy of learning, love, and faith in God for his posterity and will be greatly missed. Dad shared his testimony of Jesus Christ often with his family and friends. He instilled in his children a love of learning and a love of arts and literature. Dad always said: The greatest honor accorded me was ordination to the Melchizedek priesthood and the office of elder. The greatest blessing I received was marrying your mother in the Temple Manti. He was born on November 30, 1918, in Saratoga, Carbon County, Wyoming, to Thomas John Williams and Martha Edith Marshall while they were working on a ranch there. His siblings included Nellie Williams (Bieker), Marble Williams, and Fletcher Williams. He also had an older half-sister, Marjorie. Dad was proud of his Native American heritage being one quarter Ashinabeg on his mothers side. Dads father worked for the railroad so he was raised around railroads living mostly in Ogden, Utah, and Pocatello, Idaho. Dad graduated from Pocatello High School and graduated with a degree in English from Idaho Agricultural College (which became Idaho State University). He always said he received a fine education. Dad excelled at his studies. Encouraged to enter a contest by his college professors, he entered a statewide writing contest and won first prize. He had a lifelong love of literature with a special love for English poets like Browning and Keats. Dad had a lifelong curiosity about the world around him and read and talked widely on just about every subject. He loved the fine arts with a special love for opera. Dad had a great talent for writing. He said words for him were sustenance. He won Church-wide writing contests. He also wrote a book for the U.S. Forest Service. He left his friends and family the first chapter of a novel. Dad knew his talent came from God and always expressed his gratitude to God. At the age of 12 in a LDS Sunday School he heard of the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ through the prophet Joseph Smith and believed and was converted immediately. He asked his father if he could be baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and his father gave his consent. His father and siblings, Marble and Nellie, followed him into baptism. The central pillar of his life was his testimony of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and he tried to serve God faithfully the rest of his life. Dad served in various callings in the church, including as Bishop in Great Falls, Montana, Ward Clerk, Assistant Stake Clerk, extraction worker, and as a Sunday School teacher for many years. Dad was always a teacher at heart wherever he was, at church or with his family. He especially loved studying and teaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. Temple service was important to Dad and Mom and they were always faithful in this service, often travelling from Great Falls, Montana to the Cardston Alberta Temple and from Vernal, Utah to the Provo Utah Temple. Later in life they were blessed with the opportunity to serve as temple workers for a number of years in the Vernal Utah Temple. They embraced this as their opportunity to serve a mission together. Dad served in the Air Force as an airplane mechanic during World War II in the Pacific. He said: I was not a gloomy kid and not an ebullient one, either. I never really thought I would live to be an old man. Thought if I survived the war, which came in my twenties, I would like to taste some of the goodness of life, have some kids, and like Landor, warm my hands before the fire. That would be enough. No great expectations. Well, I have been surprised. God blessed him beyond his desires when he met the love of his life, Verla Dean Wright, at church in Dillon, Montana. When Mom returned home to Hinckley, Utah, they courted by mail and were sealed for eternity in the Manti Temple on September 24, 1960. Dad and Mom were blessed with eight children and ten grandchildren. Dad worked for the U.S. Forest Service and worked on various forests in Montana and Idaho, spending the majority of his career as administrative officer for the Ashley National Forest headquartered in Vernal, Utah. Dad was active in the community, serving in the PTA. He also had a lifelong passion for politics and served in various capacities in the Democratic party in Uintah County. From his youth Dad loved sports, playing baseball, softball, and tennis especially. His children remember fondly playing sports with him. Dad was also a lifelong loyal, but frustrated Chicago Cubs fan. He is survived by his sweetheart, Verla Dean Williams, and his eight children: Thomas Wright Williams (Becky), Jane Williams, Mary Williams, Ruth Williams (Michael Hossom), Gwen Williams, John Morris Williams, Hugh David Williams, and Sarah Williams. He is also survived by his ten grandchildren: Emily Hossom, Anthony Thomas Hossom, Drake Williams, Alexa Williams, London Williams, Adrianna Williams, Castina Gabriella Barrera, Elizabeth Natalie Barrera, Nathaniel Carlos Barrera, and Sarah Abigail Williams Barrera. He was preceded in death by his father, mother, and siblings. Funeral services were held Tuesday, September 18, 2012, at the Vernal First Ward with Bishop Sherrill Lamb conducting. Interment was at the Vernal Cemetery with military honors.