Louis Williams
Funeral services will be held for Louis E. Williams, 93, of Clinton, at 2 p.m. today in the First Christian Church of Clinton.
Williams died Friday, April 29, 2016, at Weatherwood Assisted Living in Weatherford.
Louis Eugene Williams was born Sept. 27, 1922, in Dewey County, to Lonnie Eugene Williams and Ida Irene (Loudenslager) Williams. He was raised on a farm west of Putnam. By the time he’d graduated from
Putnam High School in 1941, he’d read every book in the school’s library. His early electrical knowledge came from books he read, because his farm was without electricity.
In 1941 Williams married Clora Splawn in Arapaho, when he was 18 and she was 17. Two days later the couple left Oklahoma and set out for California, where his first job was milking cows on a dairy farm.
They were both thrilled. They were provided a house to live in that not only had indoor plumbing but also a hot water heater. The house had a real bathtub, so for the first time in their lives they were able to take baths in something other than a washtub.
Williams later worked with a highline construction crew as a “ground man.” His main job was to snap material and tools to the hand lines the tower men used to pull items to the top of the towers. The ground men were called snappers. Later in life he became known as “Snapper” to hundreds of his fans and friends. He later worked in the shipyards, first as an electrician’s helper and then as an electrician.
During World War II Williams followed in his older brother’s footsteps and tried to join the Marines. Because of a heart murmur he was rejected by the Marines but was accepted by the Navy, where he served aboard the USS LST 919 in the Pacific. He was discharged from the Navy in 1946, and a short time later moved his wife and his son Alvin to Clinton, where he started his own one-man electrical contracting business.
He devoted himself to his family, his town, and his customers. He was an avid golfer, a square dance caller, a private airplane pilot, a long-time member of the Clinton Noon Lions Club, served as a board member of the Riverside Golf Course, was a member of local veterans’ organizations, and was a member of the First Christian Church of Clinton.
Williams was preceded in death by his parents; his wife Clora; brothers John Williams and Glenn Williams; and daughter-in-law Patsy Williams.
Survivors include his son, Alvin Williams and wife Robin, of Clinton; grandchildren Mark Williams and wife Rhonda, of Clinton, Cathy McDowell and husband Ron, of Dallas, Texas, Nickie Wilson and husband Dalton, of Weatherford, and Luke Williams, of Clinton; great-grandson Dustin Williams and Aya, of Clinton; great-granddaughters September Garcia and husband Juan, of Clinton, Jessica Friedrich and husband Mickey, of Dallas, Texas, Nina Baker and husband Christopher, of Wewoka, and Gabby Stobie and husband Chris, of Sacramento, Calif.; and eight great-great-grandchildren.
The services will be officiated by Doyle Kinney. Interment will follow at Mount Hope Cemetery south of Custer City, under the direction of Kiesau-Lee Funeral Home.