Gary Lee WILLIAMS

WILLIAMS, JOHNSON, PENDEGRAFT, LINN

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 9/7/2010 at 22:18:45

Anchorage Daily News - Anchorage, Alaska
November 29, 2000

June 2, 1937 --- November 22, 2000

Portage Resident Gary Lee Williams, 63, died Nov. 22, 2000, of Crohn's disease and renal cancer at home at Portage Glacier Lodge. A service will be at 2 p.m. Saturday at Kehl's Forest Lawn Chapel with Dr. Michael Mitchell officiating. In the spring, his family will scatter his ashes over the family farm in Iowa.

Mr. Williams was born June 2, 1937, on the Williams' family farm in Corwith, Iowa. He earned his bachelor's degree in 1968 from Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and a master of science degree from Mankato University in Minnesota in 1974. He had been a Resident of Portage since 1983. Mr. Williams owned and operated Portage Glacier Lodge since 1983. Before moving to Alaska, he farmed with his parents, drove Greyhound buses out of Chicago, taught junior high school in Cedar Rapids, was a secondary curriculum consultant for Green Valley Area Education Agency in Southwest Iowa, and was director of Cedar Rapids Children's Home.

His family said: "Gary was a man of many trades and a master of all. He never lost an opportunity to teach and instruct, leaving all of us with the life skills he knew we would need."

Mr. Williams is survived by his wife, Marilyn Williams; daughter, Geri Williams; son, Roger Lee Williams; daughter-in-law, Charlene Johnson Williams; grandson, Lee Richard Pendegraft; granddaughter, Ashley Jean Williams, all of Alaska; parents, Lee and Betty Williams of Iowa; sister and brother-in-law, Pat and Steve Linn of Iowa; brother and sister-in-law, Mike and Debra Williams of Cedar Rapids; niece, Angela Linn of Fairbanks; and nephew, Shawn Linn of Iowa City, Iowa.

The family requests memorial donations be made to Alaska Children's Services, 4600 Abbott Road, Anchorage 99507. Arrangements by Kehl's Forest Lawn Mortuary & Crematory.

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The Gazette --Cedar Rapids, Iowa
December 2, 2000

Gary L. Williams, 63, of Girdwood, Alaska, formerly of Cedar Rapids, died Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2000, in his home at Portage Glacier Lodge after a long and valiant struggle with Crohn's disease and renal cancer. Services: 2 p.m. today, Kehl's Forest Lawn Chapel, Anchorage, Alaska, by Dr. Michael Mitchell. At Gary's request, next spring his family will scatter his ashes over the family farm in Iowa.

Survivors include his wife, Marilyn; a daughter, Geri Williams and grandson Lee Richard Pendegraft of Girdwood, Alaska; a son, Roger Lee Williams, daughter-in-law Charlene and granddaughter Ashley Jean Williams, all of Anchorage; his parents, Lee and Betty Williams of Corwith; sister and brother-in-law Pat and Steve Linn of Solon; brother and sister-in-law Mike and Debra Williams of Cedar Rapids; a niece, Angela Linn of Fairbanks, Alaska; and a nephew, Shawn Linn of Iowa City.

Gary was born June 2, 1937, on the Williams family farm in Corwith. A Coe College graduate (1968), he received his master's degree in experiencial education from Mankato State University in 1974 and did additional graduate work at Drake University. With his family, Gary owned and operated Portage Glacier Lodge since moving to Alaska in 1983 following a tenure as Executive Director of the Cedar Rapids Children's Home (now Tanager Place). Gary coordinated relocation of the Children's Home to the current Tanager Place site.

Previously he farmed with his parents, drove Greyhound buses out of Chicago to earn college tuition, subsequently taught middle school in Cedar Rapids and was a secondary curriculum consultant for 22 schools in the Green Valley Area Education Agency in southwest Iowa. A community activist, he was a past president of the Cedar Rapids Federation of Teachers, a member of Rotary, Elks and Optimist clubs and Phi Delta Kappa.

Gary loved kids, many cold blustery nights found him on the Optimist club's Christmas tree lot, which benefited kids. His family says "Gary was a man of many trades and a master of most, who never lost an opportunity to teach and instruct, leaving all of us with the life skills he knew we would need."

Over the years, many of Gary's Iowa friends frequently visited with him and his family at Portage Glacier, enjoying the warm hospitality that reinvigorated their loving respect for their friend. He will be greatly missed.

A memorial fund has been established with the Alaska Children's Services, 4600 Abbott Road, Anchorage, AK 99507.