Robert Williams

Robert (Bob) A. Williams, age 87, of Gulf Breeze, FL was born Jan 21, 1935 in Friendship, New York, to Clifford Albert and Gladys Lucile Steenrod Williams, and passed away peacefully on March 25, 2022 at Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola, Florida. He was loved and adored.

Bob grew up on a farm as the second oldest of 7 siblings in a musical family. He graduated as valedictorian from Friendship Central High School in 1952. He got a full scholarship to Cornell University where he received his Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering in 1956. He played the cornet in high school and marched in the Big Red Marching Band at Cornell. In 1972, he received a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Colorado, Boulder. Bob was drafted into the U.S. Army from 1958-1960 and was stationed in Greenland. After his mandatory service, he began his civilian career as an electrical engineer in the Army Corps of Engineers at Fort Belvoir, VA. In 1966, he married Elizabeth Pendleton (“Penny”) Williams from Buffalo, NY. They raised three children together in Alexandria, VA where they lived together for over 30 years.

Bob and Penny attended Unitarian Universalist Churches wherever they lived, beginning with the All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church in Washington, DC, where they met. Bob retired in 1993 and became a fulltime Grandpa, which took him from VA to FL to CA to TN and back to FL. He was widowed in 2009. He moved back to Gulf Breeze, FL with his oldest daughter and grandson in 2015 and rejoined the UU Church of Pensacola where he enjoyed singing in the choir.

Bob loved life and enjoyed simple pleasures: family, any animal, brewed coffee, music of all kinds, travels, museums, theater, and his church. He was an environmentalist and community minded. Bob was always loving, kind, patient, and a genuine friend to all as well as a devoted husband, father, and grandfather. A lifetime learner, he was admired for a keen intellect. He was never far from a newspaper and crossword puzzle. His legacy is one of unflappable calmness and steadiness that brought great strength and comfort to all who knew him. His passing is an enormous loss to his family and friends.

He is preceded in death by his parents, wife Penny, sister Edythe Ann (Justin) Thompson, and brother Albert Irving Williams.

He is survived by daughters, Lisa Louise Rawson and Kristin Marie Williams; and son, Robert Pendleton (Kate) Williams; grandchildren, Monica Nicole Rawson, Michael Gregory Rawson, Mason Robert Rawson, Marshall Edward Rawson, Henry Peter Williams, Claire Elizabeth Williams, and Thomas Bennett Williams; siblings, Ruth Ailene Williams, L. Herbert (Karen) Williams, Martha Lucile Williams, and Walter (Dottie) Williams; and multiple nieces, nephews and great nieces and nephews and his companion of the past 8 years, Charlotte Crane of Pensacola, FL.

In lieu of flowers do an act of kindness, donate to the Unitarian Universalists, or plant a tree in memory of Robert A Williams. Please visit https://www.roselawn-fh.com.