Richard Carroll WILLIAMS, D.V.M.

WILLIAMS, MOSER, MARTIN, GAFFRON, WENKER, BERBERET, DANA, TIMMS, KIST

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 1/18/2008 at 09:10:32

Richard Carroll Williams, DVM, 83, of East Moline, died Sunday, January 13, 2008, at Illini Restorative Care Center, Silvis, Illinois. A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday, January 16, 2008, at Riverside United Methodist Church. Visitation is from 3 to 7 p.m. today at Esterdahl Mortuary & Crematory, Ltd., 6601 38th Avenue, Moline. Private family burial will be in Moline Memorial Park. Memorials may be sent to Riverside United Methodist Church of Moline or the Two Rivers Y.M.C.A. of Moline.

Richard C. (Dick) Williams was born June 21, 1924, on a farm in Troy Township, Wright County, Iowa, the son of Alva Glenn Williams and Ursula (Moser) Williams. After country school, Dick went to Eagle Grove High School and graduated in 1942. He went to Iowa State University, in Ames, to begin veterinary medicine. He elected to join the Navy in 1944 and served as a hospital Pharmacist Mate 3rd Class aboard the aircraft carrier, the USS Bunker Hill, CV17 and received an honorable discharge. Dick married Phyllis Natalie Martin on November 3, 1946, in West Union, Iowa. He graduated with honors, Phi Zeta and Alpha Zeta from veterinary school in 1949 and moved to Moline to work with Dr. Earl Kennedy until Dr. Kennedy's death. He was then joined in veterinary practice by his former high school classmate, Dr. James E. Young. In 1963 they built Oak Knoll Animal Hospital in Moline and worked there until retirement. Dick served as track veterinarian at the Quad Cities Downs for several years. He was known as "Mr. Bluebird" as he presented many bluebird programs and personally established and tended a one-hundred mile bluebird trail. Dick served as president of the Quad Cities Veterinary Medical Association (V.M.A.), the Mississippi Valley V.M.A., the Midwest Small Animal V.M.A. and the Illinois State V.M.A. In 1982 he received the Veterinary Service Award from the Illinois V.M.A. Dick was an active member of Riverside United Methodist Church, the Quad City Audubon Society, and the North America Bluebird Society (N.A.B.S.).

Survivors include wife, Phyllis; daughter, Barbara (David) Gaffron, of Bloomington, Ill.; son, John (Sherry) Williams, of Moline; and daughter, Jody (Paul) Berberet, of Geneva, Ill.; five granddaughters, Rachel Gaffron (William) Dana, Elizabeth Gaffron, Kari Williams (Peter) Wenker, Natalie Berberet, and Kathryn Berberet; one great-grandson, Henry Dana; a sister, Maryella Timms, of Macomb, Ill.; and nieces and nephews. In addition to his parents he was preceded in death by a sister, Bernadine Kist, of Clayton, Mo.

Quad-City Times, Davenport, Iowa
January 14, 2008