Mr. John Fenton Williamson
1952 - 2014
Mr. John Fenton Williamson
1952 - 2014
Obituary
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John Williamson Obituary
John worked in the insurance industry for more than 30 years; and he was the proprietor of John F. Williamson Insurance, an employee benefits brokerage in Fresno for the past 20 years.
Besides his family and wide circle of friends, John's passions included hunting, fly fishing, tennis, golf, skiing and college sports--especially his beloved University of Oregon Ducks (where he received his Bachelor of Science degree in 1974 and was a member of their tennis team) and his adopted U.C. Berkeley Golden Bears.
John was a highly-ranked junior tennis player and spent much of his childhood on the courts of the Fig Garden Swim & Racket Club and traveling the California junior tennis circuit. At Bullard High School, he continued his active sports life on the school's tennis and cross-country teams. John was an excellent skier, and always loved the family ski trips to China Peak, Tahoe and the Rockies.
He was preceded in death by his father, Fenton D. Williamson, Jr.
He is survived by his mother, Joan Ottley of Carmel; sister, Jenny Williamson Doré of Santa Ynez; brother, Reed Williamson of Fresno; nephew, Drew Armstrong of Santa Ynez; and niece, Kaitlin Hite of Encinitas.
A celebration of John's life will be held at Fig Garden Swim & Racket Club on Thursday, October 16, 2014 at 3:30 p.m.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to The Northern California Tennis Foundation, at 1920 North Loop Road, Alameda, CA 94502-8081. Proceeds will be for the support of junior tennis in the greater Fresno Area.
To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.
David Winkler
March 30, 2017
I was but his computer tech, yet with each of my visits to JFW Ins I slowly learned that "JF Wins" would have been a more suitable name. He was above life, and loved being generous, but not as much as he loved those Ducks. I remember teaching him how to click respond rather than printing out his emails, writing on them, and then faxing them to the sender. He was amazingly dense when it came to computers, but his warm heart, kind generosity, wisdom, and love for his family and friends radiated from this man. I enjoyed working for him, and now that I have recovered from my own death-like experience, I find that my good friend is gone. JF, you were the Winner, and I appreciate the guidance you provided by way of being a terrific role model.
Larry Stauch
October 1, 2014
The best home, dream on; the best car, dream on; the best wine, dream on; the best life, dream on
For tomorrow the good lord may take you away
Good Bye my generous and thoughtful friend
Brad Miller
September 29, 2014
I took a long bike ride the other day thinking about how my life will change now that Willie is no longer a part of it.
I will have to find somebody to talk to a couple of times a week on matters big and small, just talking really,I always enjoyed giving John a hard time on so many topics. Funny thing was, I think John liked it as much as I did.
I won't have to keep up on the Giants as much as I did in the past, to know what is going on, to have an opinion of why they were incredibly awful at any certain point in time, not that it really mattered, I was never going to be right, my opinion was just that, he knew the real story.
Johnny was our insurance broker, so not sure what I do about tracking Obama Care, do I need to read more or less about it? With T Bones "love" of Obama it was always a little confusing, was he telling me the facts or talking smack?
I will have to find somebody to go to all Bay Area Duck football games too, Cal-Oregon is coming up soon, I don't think he had bought the tickets yet and I'll have to find somebody to go with now.
I'll have to pick up a lot more checks for everything from Ducks and Giants games to nice dinners, Bone always liked to pick up the check, each time I would say, "you don't have to do that, let's split it," and we would say "it's OK, I want to do it", and I would let him because I knew that he really did enjoy it.
But the thing I will miss the most is his ready laugh, not only did he appreciate my some times dry cynical sense of humor, when I gave him a hard time, which was pretty much all the time, and he enjoyed that too!
And going forward every time I raise a glass of really expensive wine, the kind that usually was from a bottle that he had brought, or was going to buy when it was gone, I will toast my old friend Willie, to the memory of his sense of fun, his generosity, and his kind soul! I miss you my friend!
Randy Fisher
September 27, 2014
My deepest sympathies to all of John's friends and family.
Randy Fisher
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George Taylor
September 26, 2014
Johnny, WillieBob, love you dearly and will miss you bigtime. You were kind/friendly/generous, and boy did we have fun together. Our tennis, partying, trips, will all be remembered, and wow 7 days at the Olympics. Most of all, I will miss our lively phone conversations, always at night, cause you worked so hard.
You can now slow down in heaven.
The Borrelli Family
September 26, 2014
Our hearts are filled with sadness at the loss of John.
We can only say how much we will miss John as well. No words can express how much a part of our life's John was, and will always be, we are sure, and be held in our hearts forever. Always giving us a shining example of kindness, caring, loving, and fun.
God gave us a true family member that remains with us through the rest of our lives, so close yet not with us in body any longer.
With our Deepest Sympathy,
tim cohee
September 26, 2014
Johnny, a great friend for many years, generous, skiing and tennis pal, lots of great memories, Tahoe & China Peak, the best wine, many long nights with Brad and I in 2009/10, opened your home to us, great chef, you will be missed by all of us at China Peak.
Doug Little
September 25, 2014
John "Sonny Boy""T-Bone Boy", "Bone Boy"
Williamson. RIP Buddy !! Will never forget you in the TC House !! What a great guy !! Heaven is a better place now.
Doug "Cowboy" Little
Whitehurst, Sullivan, Burns & Blair Chapel
September 25, 2014
Offering our deepest condolences during this difficult time.
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