Jack Harvey Williams

A memorial service for Jack will be held at 1:00 P.M., Thursday, May 20, 2010 at Waples Memorial United Methodist Church, with Rev. Mike Nichols and Dr. Jim Bowden officiating. Jack will be buried at Ft. Gibson National Military Cemetery near Muskogee, Oklahoma on May 21.

Jack was born in Van Alstyne, Texas on January 22, 1925 to Clarence Harvey Williams and Sarah Lois Spradley Williams. His only sibling was his older sister Rebecca Darling Williams Lain. After living in Van Alstyne for a short time, he and his family moved to Muskogee, Oklahoma in 1926. He considered Muskogee to be his real “home.”

In his senior year of high school, at the age of 17, Willliams joined the Navy. His mother helped manipulate his age and he left to do his duty in World War II. He was assigned to the USS McCracken, an attack transport used to insert Marines into battle. The McCracken was involved in combat operations in the Philippines, Okinawa and Saipan. It was among the first attack transports to disembark occupation troops in Japan at Nagoya, on October 28, 1945. The McCracken earned one battle star during WWII.

After the war, Williams briefly attended the University of Oklahoma in Norman, Oklahoma and Northeastern State University in Tallequah, Oklahoma. He then joined the USAF where he flew seven different aircraft in roles from instructor pilot to combat in the B-26 during the Korean War. He was also a missile launch officer for a time on Titan missile systems while stationed at RAF Lakenheath, England and as a safety officer on Atlas missiles at Vandenberg AFB in California. The B-26 was his favorite aircraft, he told Susan. “I think it is the one plane I enjoyed the most. It had two P-47 engines that were some kind of power. If the plane was light we could feather one engine and pass a P -51 out of a dive . . .”

While stationed at Perrin AFB, Jack met Kathleen Francis Gary. The story he told his children is that they met on a cloud when he was flying. They were married May 9, 1953. He was assigned to Korea shortly thereafter. His first daughter, Susan Lynn, was born in Denison while Williams was in Korea. His second daughter, Kim Elise, was born after he returned and was stationed in Virginia.

The couple was married 46 years. He bragged for years the she was the perfect military wife. After retirement as a major the Air Force in 1965, with Kathy’s help he obtained a Bachelors degree in Business Education, from Southeastern State University in Durant, Oklahoma.

Jack went on to work as a comptroller for the state of Texas. He retired for the second time. After his second retirement, he and his wife spent lots of time traveling; many cruises and trips to Europe. There was a time when his children would joke, “It’s 10:00. Do you know where your parents are?”

Jack was preceded in death by his parents, sister, son-in-law, and wife. Survivors include his daughters, Susan Lynn Epperson and her husband, Alan of Fort Collins, Colorado; and Kim Elise Huff of Denison. He is survived by his four grandchildren, Matthew Huff, Erin Epperson, Michael Huff, and Nathan Epperson, also numerous nieces, nephews, and cousins.

Arrangements are entrusted to the care and direction of Bratcher Funeral Home, 401 W. Woodard Street, Denison, Texas 75020. For further information, please call the funeral home at (903) 465–2323, or for an online obituary, directions or to leave a condolence, please go to www.bratcherfuneralhome.com