Valerie B. Williamson

Valerie Beard Williamson, daughter of Dorothy Bradberg and Truman Chalmers Beard, was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She attended several different grade schools in various parts of Minnesota, graduated high school in Eveleth in 1951, and then attended the University of Minnesota. She earned a Bachelor’s Degree in elementary education in 1955. During her undergraduate years, Valerie was active in SPAN, a study-travel program, where she met her husband, John A. Williamson and where she discovered her love of travel and facility with languages. John and Valerie were married June 11, 1955.

The academic year 1956-1957 took the couple away from teaching school in Lamberton, Minnesota and gave Valerie the opportunity to substitute teach at the Munali Secondary School in Lusaka, Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia). The year in Africa saw the birth of their oldest daughter, Anne.

Back in Minnesota, there would be three more children: Bruce, Craig, and Dawn. The family made Boulder their home in September of 1967, with intermittent years spent abroad in England, Italy, and France. From the mid 1970's to the early 1980's, she worked as the Religious Education Coordinator at the Boulder Unitarian Church. In this role she served as an advisor and coordinator for the Ninth Grade Trip, teaching Unitarian ninth graders about Native American history, beliefs, and life, as well as respect for each other and how to be part of a group, culminating in annual visits to the Hopi and Navajo lands in Arizona each spring. The closeness of the group and the importance of the experience led several of these fourteen-year-olds into lifelong friendships with Valerie.

Opportunity then combined with her twin interests in travel and foreign language study, and she was drawn to Italy and the Italian language. In 1990 she completed a Master’s Degree in Italian from Southern Connecticut State University, writing her thesis The Poetry of Umberto Saba as an example of Petrarchan Influence on Twentieth Century Italian Poetry. She then continued to teach Italian Language classes at The University of Colorado. The direction of her teaching energy is best summarized using the title of a published chapter to which she contributed: Accommodating the Needs of Students with Severe Language Learning Difficulties in Modified Foreign Language Classes. Many a former student would have a chance encounter with Valerie in their later travels and instantly recognize her smile. She retired from teaching in 2001.

Valerie often talked about her favorite places in the world such as Rome, London and Chaco Canyon in New Mexico, but Boulder was always home and her deep appreciation for the beauty of the Flatirons was something she continued to express through the last days of her life.

Valerie is survived by her husband, John, and their children: Anne Williamson Callanan and husband Terry of Fairport, NY; Craig Williamson and wife Marlene of Denver; and Dawn Williamson and husband Jonathan Wheeling of Dundee, OR. Valerie was preceded in death by their son Bruce who died in an automobile accident as a teenager. She is also survived by her sister, Patricia Cain and husband Larry, by grandchildren Ryan and Mark Callanan, and Phillip, Duncan, and Charlotte Williamson, two nieces and three nephews, and many more family and friends. The family would like to thank Mary Marcotte, CareLink, Home Instead, Dignity Care, and Family Hospice, all of whom made it possible for Valerie to stay at home for the last years of her life. A memorial service is planned for 1:00 pm on Saturday, May 5, at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Boulder at 5001 Pennsylvania.