Paul Steven Williams

1947 - 2021

Paul Steven Williams

Paul Steven Williams, beloved son, brother, uncle, friend, teacher, coach, passed away on May 1, 2021. Paul was born on October 26th, 1947 in Los Angeles, CA. After playing football and coaching at San Francisco State, Paul moved to Arizona in 1972. Initially, Paul taught at Carl Hayden H.S. and coached football at Glendale Community College. He joined the faculty at Cactus High School in 1978 where he taught P.E./Health and coached both football and girls track and field. During his Cactus football career as defensive coordinator the team went to the state championships seven times and took the state championship twice. Coach Williams led the girls track and field team to five state championships and was inducted into Arizona's Coaches Hall of Fame in 2013. He retired from coaching in 2015. Paul enjoyed many things outside of his career: ice hockey, drag racing (both as spectator and driver), camping, fishing, bowling, golf, concerts, old horror movies, amateur photography…He never approached anything half-heartedly and always with a great sense of humor.

"Paul definitely cares about kids: I have been around Paul a million times when he has given his time or spent his own money on kids. I have seen him buy shoes, glasses, clothes and billions of lunches for kids. If you are ever at Cactus H.S. after school or on the weekends, Paul will usually be there, sometimes he doesn't know why but usually it is for kids." (written by Cactus teacher/friend 2007)

A memorial service will be held at the Cactus High School auditorium on Saturday, May 22nd at 1:00 in the afternoon. (masks will be required)

For those who wish to honor Paul with a gift, send to LinksWay Foundation - a nonprofit organization serving orphaned and vulnerable children in Southern Africa.

LinksWay Foundation

6349 N. 19th St.

Phoenix, Az 85016