Jay Edmund Williams

Family and Friends are mourning the passing of Jay Edmund Williams, who died January 31 at age 93. Ed spent several decades working for Equitable Life Assurance as an agent, and later, as the Western Division Administrator. He was headquartered in Marin County, California.

Ed was born May 4, 1925 in Grantsville, UT son of Edmund L. Williams, who died before Dad’s birth and Emma Hilda Johnson. When Dad was 6 years old, his mother married Ray Arthur Anderson. His sister Frances was born in 1934.

When he started high school, he took a music class from the teacher Sarah Anderson. She was the best teacher and in her class he was introduced to opera for the first time. Because of her, there were a few in the class that decided they wanted to play a musical instrument and created a band. He wanted to play the trumpet because that was the instrument that the musician Harry James played. When his mother went to buy it she got a coronet (a short trumpet) instead, so that is what he mastered. They traveled all over playing for school dances and other venues earning spending money.

Dad joined the U.S. Navy after high school and served on a destroyer in the Pacific during WWII. He and his ship survived several attempted kamikaze attacks. Like many from the “Greatest Generation,” Dad rarely spoke of his service and thought his contribution was “no big deal” particularly because he was never hurt and so many others were hurt or lost their lives.

Dad returned from the war to Utah and married Donette Callister. The couple had two children together, Lynne and Lloyd. That marriage ended in divorce. He then met and married Fritzi Feulner. Dad and Fritzi enjoyed travel to Fritzi’s native Austria. That marriage ended in divorce.

Dad met Colleen Groesbeck who also worked for the Equitable and they married in 1976. Ed and Colleen retired and relocated to Midvale, UT in 1990. Dad enjoyed the Retirees and Newcomers Clubs and volunteered for Common Cause and Utah Opera and Symphony. He organized a family investment club and enjoyed traveling to places such as Egypt, Turkey, China, and Europe.

June 2014 he was able to go with the Utah Honor Flight to Washington D.C. to be recognized for his service in WWII. His stepdaughter Robin Groesbeck arranged everything with the organization and then accompanied him. That was a very special occasion for him.
Dad was known for his irreverent sense of humor and his stylish wardrobe and delighted those he met with his romantic stories of travel and luxury.

Jay Edmund Williams is survived by his sister Frances (Buck) Schumaker; daughter Lynne (Craig) Peterson; son Lloyd (Joanie) Williams; step-daughters: Rebecca (Dan) Morgan, Pamela Wilmoth (Herman Bielenberg), Sally Boehme, Robin Groesbeck (Glenn Baldwin); foster son Carlos Ruiz; 5 grandchildren; 15 great-grandchildren; and 7 great-great-grandchildren.

Special Thanks to Stephanie Stockdale and all of the staff at Hidden Valley Assisted Living Facility in South Ogden and to Comfort Worx Hospice especially Aubrey, Kaylie, Carla, April, Amber and also Visiting Angels Moana & Paula for their tender care.

A viewing will be held Monday, February 4, 2019, from 6:00-8:00 p.m. at McDougal Funeral Home. A graveside service will be held Tuesday, February 5th, 12:00 noon at Mount Olivet Cemetery, 1342 East 500 South.

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