Donald "Don" Ray Williams

Don was born November 14, 1943 at home in Harold, IL to Everrett and Florence Williams. He grew up as the third of four boys and is survived by his older brother Paul, the remaining family member of the family. As a child, Don loved to hunt, fish, and enjoyed to plant and watch things grow, hobbies he liked his whole life.

He attended Norris City High School where he played football and was the president of his senior class of 1961. After high school, Don attended South Illinois University at Carbondale, majoring in Accounting with a minor in Economics, graduating in 1965.

Don married his high school sweetheart, Dorthy Thompson on March 23, 1963, and they had two children, Daniel and Donna. Donna preceded him in death in 2020. Don and Dorthy have seven grandchildren and six great-grandchildren who loved him dearly.

After graduating from college, Don started his career working for Ford Motor Company in Michigan before moving home to Illinois and beginning his long career in the meat industry, eventually moving to, and settling in, Wichita, Kansas with his wife and children. In Wichita, Don worked for Dold Foods where he eventually worked his way up to Vice President. After leaving Dold, he took his expertise and parlayed it into a consultancy in smoked meats before becoming a nursing home administrator and, finally, a self-employed landlord which he did until retiring in 2009. While in Wichita, Don was active in the Metropolitan Baptist Church becoming a Deacon in 1981. He also taught Sunday school in the singles class and then with his wife Dorthy in the 4-year-old classroom.

The family has joked for years about how Don's favorite food was pie. If you asked what his favorite pie was, he would say, "Round." As a child, his family lived in an apartment behind his parent's restaurant. The cooks would tell the story about how Don would run through the restaurant on his way to school, grab a hot pie from the oven, cut a piece and grab a coke on his way out the door. His life of pie never diminished. Years later, he and his friend Larry stopped by Sam's Club for lunch and Don bought a pie. When he got back to the truck, Larry asked how they would cut the pie. Don, ever the problem solver, reached behind the seat of the truck, pulled out a putty knife, and cut the pie.

Don was a beloved husband, brother, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, uncle, and friend who will be sorely missed by those who knew him.

Memorial Service will be 1:00 PM on Tuesday, May 5, 2026, at Resthaven Mortuary, 11800 West Highway 54, Wichita, Kansas, with his Grandson, Joshua Thompson-Williams, officiating.

In lieu of flowers, a memorial has been established with: American Diabetes Association, 2451 Crystal Drive, Suite 900, Arlington, Virginia 22202.