Richard Quimby Williams

Born on the 1st of May 1959, in Berkeley, California, Richard was the son of the late Curtis C. Williams III and Elizabeth Quimby Williams. He was also preceded in death by his beloved wife LaVern Kerri Williams.

In his early years, Richard lived in Darien, Connecticut, and St. Louis, Missouri, and moved to Houston in 1971, where his father was a chemical engineer for Shell Oil Company.

Richard graduated seventh in his class from Westchester Senior High School in Houston in 1977. He excelled in science and math classes and was recognized as Outstanding Math Student. Within the area of scientific studies, he was especially interested in electronics, a focus that would later lead to his professional career in electrical engineering.

He received bachelor’s and master’s degrees in electrical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where his core studies included circuit theory, computer design and architecture, and solid-state devices.

While at MIT, he met LaVern Kerri Smith. They married on the 4th of September 1990 and remained married until her death on the 22nd of February 2024.

In 1982 he joined the International Business Machines Corporation at their Essex Junction, Vermont location, where he worked in a circuit design and modeling group.

In 1989, Richard was selected for IBM's Resident Study Program, enabling him to attend Stanford University for several years of postgraduate work for professional development before returning to IBM.

During his career at IBM spanning more than 40 years, Richard was recognized with numerous awards, including the IBM Outstanding Technical Achievement award (1988) and the IBM Division award (1990) for work on compact model development systems. A prolific innovator, Richard was inventor or co-inventor of 93 patents in his field.

Richard was a member of The IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) and of the research honorary society Sigma Xi. On behalf of IBM, he regularly made conference presentations as part of efforts to share knowledge, collaborate, and help establish industry-wide standards. Travels for these events took him to Japan, Germany and often back home to Texas.

In April 2024, Richard moved home to Houston. While here, he enjoyed swimming, visiting Houston’s museums and NASA, and supporting the Houston Astros, Texans and Rockets.

He is survived by his sister Susan Williams Darrow and her husband Doug of Houston, Texas.

The family would like to extend a special thank you to the team at Care Innovations for their kindness and devotion to Richard, especially Shirley Crawford, Esmeralda Cruz, Marion DeBose, Katherine Kennebrew, Tameka McCants, Cathy Merrity, AnnMarie Preston, Breia Watkins, Kris Diaz and Cindy Smith. Thanks also go to the staff of The Village of Southampton for their compassionate care.

A memorial service celebrating Richard’s life is to be conducted at ten o’clock in the morning on Tuesday, the 21st of April, in the Jasek Chapel of Geo. H. Lewis & Sons, 1010 Bering Drive in Houston, where Dr. Wick Stuckey, Senior Associate Pastor at Chapelwood UMC, is to officiate. Immediately following, all are invited to greet the family during a reception in the adjacent Parlor and Texas Republic Wine Room.

In lieu of customary remembrances, the family requests with gratitude that memorial contributions in Richard’s name be directed to the Parkinson’s Foundation by visiting www.parkinson.org, or to a charity of one’s choice.

We invite you to take a few moments to share memories and words of comfort and condolence with his family by selecting the ‘Add a Memory’ icon under the 'Show your Support' section below.