Charlene Williams

Charlene Dale Williams of Millville passed away in the early afternoon last Friday, January 8th, 2009.
She is survived by her husband and best friend, Bob Williams. She is also survived by her four adult children, her brother, three sisters, and four grandchildren.
Charlene was born to Otis and Eula Dale at Mountain Park, OK on July 28, 1931. She grew up in Oklahoma City, OK and was a member of the Classen High School class of '49 where she was involved in the theater arts program and voted the "Princess of Friendship" by her senior class.
Following High School, she left for Norman, OK to attend the University of Oklahoma beginning in the fall of 1949. There she was a member of Mortarboard and Phi Beta Kappa, and was selected the "Outstanding Woman Student" of 1952-1953. She graduated from OU in the spring of 1953 with a degree in anthropology. In October of that same year she married Bob Williams. It was a marriage and friendship that would last for the remaining 56 years of her life.
Following her husband's return from his deployment to Korea, Bob and Charlene began raising a family with the birth of their first daughter in Oklahoma in 1957. They had another daughter in Ann Arbor, Michigan in 1958, a son in Calcutta, India in 1961, and another son back in Ann Arbor in 1962.
Bob and Charlene moved to the Los Angeles area in 1965 where Bob had accepted a position as a professor at UCLA. There, in Topanga Canyon, they settled down to raise their family. In addition to being a full time wife and mother, Charlene worked as an officer manager for the Los Angeles County public schools.
In 1990 following her husband's retirement, she and Bob moved to the cattle ranch in Millville where she was to ranch and live for the remaining 20 years of her life.
In Shasta County she was a member of the Friends of the Library, the North State Symphony League, the Cattlewomen's Association, the American Association of University Women, and the League of Women Voters. She was also a founding member of the Women's Fund of the Shasta Regional Community Foundation.
It is indescribable how many people Charlene touched throughout her life with her kindness, her warmth, her understanding, and her love. She truly loved her family, her friends and her life.
Services with a reception and fellowship to follow will be held at the Pilgrim Congregational Church on Friday, January 15, at 11 a.m. The church is located at 2850 Foothill Boulevard in Redding.
In lieu of flowers the family requests donations be made to the Women's Fund of the Shasta Regional Community Foundation at 1335 Arboretum Drive, Suite B, Redding, CA 96003.
Charlene, you are so missed. You were so caring, so giving, and so loving. It is difficult to imagine life without you here to brighten our days. Thank you so much for sharing your life with each of us. We love you.