Obituary: Ronald Williams, 83
Mystic Funeral Home
Ron Williams passed peacefully from this life at 12:30PM on March 27th, 2020 in his room at Avalon with his children by his side.
He was pre-deceased by his parents, George Williams and Ruth Patton Williams, his brother George, his sister Dorothy and his twin sister Ruth Williams Reed. He was also pre-deceased by his two wonderful wives to whom he was married for 30 years each, Helen Hamill Williams and Jewel Stoddard Williams and by his son Gary Williams.
He is survived by his daughter Sandra Wilbur, son-in-law John Wilbur, son Alan Williams, daughter-in-law Karen Faulkner Williams, 2 step daughters, Diane Stoddard Ritorto and Patty Stoddard Scronce, 10 grand-children, 10 great grandchildren and his very dear and special friend Dottie Honohan.
He grew up in western Pennsylvania and joined the U.S. Navy at the age of 17, just as WW2 was heating up. Served first on the USS Stack during the invasion and occupation of Guadal Canal, then on the USS Parche under the command of Red Ramage. Captain Ramage accepted the Congressional Medal of Honor on behalf of this crew for their heroic efforts in a battle that is still studied as part of the curriculum at the Naval Academy. Ron went on to serve a total of 31 years, retiring at the rank of Lieutenant Commander. During that time he also served on the USS Trumpetfish, Fleet Reserve, USS Argonaut, USS Swordfish and the USS Fulton. He was Chief of the Boat on the USS SeaDragon on her Polar cruise, where he was part of the winning team when they surfaced through the ice to play baseball at the North Pole. He went on to serve as the Director of Engineering at the Sub School, Administrative officer at Pearl Harbor and the Director of Missile testing at Cape Kennedy.
After retiring Ron went on to work at Electric Boat (the old sailor’s home) for 15 years as the Chief of the Off Site Planning Dept.
In addition to the Navy, he had a passion for golf and played for many years, until his shoulder gave out.
He has been blessed to live for the last 15 years at Stone Ridge in Mystic, a very active and supportive community. He made many wonderful friends there where he was often referred to as the Pub Master.
The family wishes to thank the wonderful staff and community of Stone Ridge, Top Sail and Avalon for all of their help and support. There are no words to describe how wonderful these people are. A word of thanks also for his team from Vitas for making his final days more comfortable, purposeful and dignified.
Due to the COVID-19 virus, the family will be holding services privately.
The Mystic Funeral Home has charge of arrangements.
This article originally appeared on the Stonington-Mystic Patch
