Obituary of Lewis N. Williams

A VIRTUAL SERVICE IS going to be held at Prince of Life Lutheran Church. There phone number is 503-657-3100. Please call to confirm day and time. Lewis Norvel Williams, 89 of Oregon City, Oregon passed away on November 4th, 2020 in his home. He was born April 26th, 1931 in London, Oregon. He attended the London School in the early grades. The family moved to Oregon City when he was in the 4th grade. He attended school in Oregon City. During high school he managed two paper routes negotiating the Oregon City hills on his bicycle. He also participated in football, wrestling, and track. His senior year he was given an award as the most inspirational player for football. Further he was the first Oregon City wrestler to win the state heavyweight wrestling championship. After graduating from Oregon City High School in 1949 he attended Oregon State College and worked. In 1951 he married his high school sweetheart, Dona Knight. During his tenure between 1951 and 1955 at Oregon State College he was involved in football and wrestling. In his senior year he won the Pac 10 Heavyweight wrestling championship. He reported for active duty in the United States Army just after his first child was born in May of 1955. During his time on active duty his second child was born in March of 1958. He served on active duty until August of 1958 at which point, he returned to Corvallis, Oregon to embark on his career as a teacher and coach at Corvallis High School. He began his teaching career coaching wrestling, JV football, and track while teaching PE and health. Simultaneously in September of 1962 he stopped coaching and joined the Army Reserves. The skills he obtained in the military led him to develop the electronics programs at both Corvallis and Crescent Valley High Schools. He taught in Corvallis for a total of 31 years retiring in 1989. He retired from the military in 1991 as a Full Colonel. Following his retirement, he became highly active in local ham radio groups and served as ARRL District Emergency Coordinator for Benton County and eventually ARRL Emergency Coordinator for the State of Oregon. Many hours were spent monitoring and providing communications for various events. Ham radio was his focus during this time. Beyond that he enjoyed family, traveling, rock hounding, time at the beach, camping, and for him EVERY DAY WAS A GOOD DAY! Lew is survived by his wife of 69 years, Dona, sister, Beverly Emmons, brother, Charles Williams, 2 daughters, Diane Bush and Kathy Williams, son in law, Ron Bush, granddaughters Shelley Zaloznik and Laura Sanchez and their husbands Josh and Miguel respectively, and 3 great grandchildren. Lew was preceded in death by grandson, Timothy Bush.