Fred O. Williams, Jr.

Fred O. Williams Jr. of Gaithersburg, Md. died Thursday, November 3, 2016 at Adventist Shady Grove Hospital after struggling with heart and lung disease. He was 82. 

Born October 10, 1934 in Alpine, Texas, Fred graduated second in his class at Alpine High School, where he was a lineman on the football team, then studied for a degree in electrical engineering at Princeton University, graduating in 1956. 

He worked at Convair Corp. in Fort Worth, Texas, in the fledgling field of digital computing. In 1960 he moved east to work at ITT Corp.in New Jersey and to marry his college sweetheart, Marilyn June Emmons of Morrisville, Pa. 

Fred joined IBM Corp. in Owego, N.Y. in 1966 at the federal systems division, leaving hands-on engineering to become a project manager. He was proud of work his team did on electronic defense systems during the Cold War using advanced computing techniques. His team worked on systems that detected anti-aircraft missile sites, among other projects, and he was responsible for briefing Pentagon officials on the systems, traveling often to air bases in the U.S. and Europe. 

A lover of growing things, Fred lived with his family on a farm outside Owego, where he planted an apple orchard with some help from his two young sons, as well as a vegetable garden. 

In 1972 he and the family moved to Ithaca, N.Y. and bought a vineyard on Cayuga Lake. He visited pioneering vintner Dr. Konstantin Frank to learn about growing authentic French wine grapes in the chilly New York climate, which was his ambition, and began converting the vineyard from American hybrid grapes to European varieties. 

In 1980 that project came to an end amid the economic recession and the end of his first marriage. He moved to Gaithersburg, Md. and continued to work for IBM's federal systems division. In 1987 he married Gail D. (Ammon) Mitchell of Gaithersburg, whose mother Doris lived with them. 

In 1990 his job took them to Brussels, Belgium, where they used their free time to travel around Europe, learning about the wines and dishes of France, Belgium, Italy and Germany.

After returning to Gaithersburg he retired in 1995 and devoted more time to his garden and to cooking carefully prepared meals, often using spices and vegetables that he grew himself and recipes he adapted from French, Italian and Thai cooking. He and Gail also took fishing trips and beach vacations with friends and family in Delaware. 

After Gail's death in 2015 Fred spent more time at home, at the house that continued to be their family's gathering place for holidays, birthdays and celebrations, with generations of children and grandchildren playing soccer and football in the yard or being taught cooking skills in the kitchen. 

Fred was predeceased by parents Fred O. Williams Sr. and Ida Mae (Weyerts) Williams of Alpine. He is survived by brothers Jerre and Dennis Williams, sons Benjamin P. and Fred O. Williams III, step-children Kathy, William, Michael and Bonnie Mitchell, six grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. 

A memorial service and interment are set for 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, November 8 at All Souls Cemetery in Germantown, MD.