Beverly Mae Williams

WILLIAMS, Beverly Mae (Age 91) on Monday, November 23, after a brief illness, our beloved mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, sister and aunt, passed away at home, surrounded by her family. The daughter of James Hemingway Ball and Mabel Mae Byas, Beverly was born February 24, 1924 in Toppenish, WA. Beverly and her family lived in various other locations during the Great Depression, later settling in Ellensburg for Junior High School and Cle Elum for High School, graduating from Cle Elum High School in 1941. Bev wanted to be a doctor when she was a little girl, pretending her dolls were sick or injured and treating them with medicines and bandages. Because finances were tight, she entered nursing school instead in January, 1942 at St. Elizabeth School of Nursing in Yakima, WA. She graduated and was pinned in 1945, working in their OB department until 1948, when she moved to Cle Elum to work at the Roslyn & Cle Elum Beneficial Company (RCBC) Hospital. She was introduced to her future husband, Robert Williams, on a blind date arranged by her sister and brother-in-law, Dorothy and Byron Weber. They were married six months later on December 17, 1949. Bob was re-activated to serve in the Air Force for the Korean War at Fairfield-Suisan AFB, later renamed Travis AFB in Fairfield, CA. While there, Bev worked in the base hospital. They returned to Cle Elum after the war and Beverly worked at the RCBC Hospital, later taken over by the newly formed Kittitas County Hospital District #2 until her retirement in 1992. Between the closing of the hospital and opening of the Cle Elum Family Medical Center and Emergency Room, Bev was hired from 1976-1978 as the School Nurse for the Cle Elum-Roslyn School District, also teaching a Certified Nursing Assistant course at Cle Elum High School. She was known for her voracious reading, constantly working on New York Times crossword puzzles and always having a 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle set up in her house, usually her favorites- Bev Doolittle or Charles Wysocki. She also had several prints by Bev Doolittle on the walls of her room, and her favorite Pendleton blanket on her bed. She had a close kinship with the Native Americans, having been born and raised on their tribal lands in Toppenish. Retirement for Beverly was full of golf, travelling and spending time with family and friends. Her health interrupted those plans when she suffered a devastating stroke while traveling with family and friends in Scotland in 2003, leaving her paralyzed on her left side. Daughter Janet took care of Bev in Janet’s home for the first year with the help of family and agency help, but it became difficult finding in-home care when she was working. At that time, Bev was moved to the home of Tim and Maureen Roth of Ellensburg, where she lived for over ten years, developing a close relationship with both of them while Maureen cared for her. Her last year was spent in Cle Elum, fulfilling her wish to return to her home town and be with family. This was possible thanks to the loving care she was able to receive from her daughter-in-law, Elizabeth, at their home

Beverly was the proud matriarch of her family, often boasting about starting the family tradition in health care. Son, David, was an EMT; daughter, Janet, is a Nurse Practitioner; granddaughter, Amy, is a Registered Nurse; daughter, Jean, was a Medical Assistant, EMT and Clinic Manager; daughter, Beth, is a Paramedic; daughter-in-law, Elizabeth, is a Home Care Aid. Beverly is survived by her older sister, Dorothy; her children David (Karla), Jean (Steve), Janet (Brian), and Beth (Elizabeth); grandchildren Joshua, Alison, Andrew, Marcus, Melanie (Jeremy), Amy (Jason), Logan (Megan), Daniel and Caleb; great grandchildren Makenna, Peyton, Marlena and Abraham, great-grandbaby #5 (Amy) due March 2016, and numerous nieces, nephews and cousins.

Cremation is being handled by Steward & Williams Funeral Home in Ellensburg. Internment will take place at Laurel Hill Memorial Park, Cle Elum, next to her husband, Robert, at a later date.

A memorial service is planned for December 6, 2015, at 1pm, Cle Elum Community Church, Pastor Worth officiating. In lieu of flowers, the family asks for donations be made to Hospice Friends, who took excellent care of Beverly and provided unwavering support to Beverly's family.