James David Williams

1927 - 2019

James (Jim) David Williams

Brookfield - James (Jim) David Williams, loving father, grandfather, great grandfather and friend, passed away peacefully at his home in Brookfield, surrounded by family on Friday, September 20, 2019.

He was born in Hinsdale, IL on March 15, 1927 to William Homer Williams of Waukesha and Margaret Ruth Jones Williams of La Grange, IL. He was married for fifty-nine years to Patricia Ann Rittler Williams who predeceased him in 2013. He is survived by their four daughters and their spouses: Jill (Barry Wightman); Bonnie (Robert Skelly); Jennifer (William Morales); and Jamie (Charles Sloan). He is also survived by his eight grandchildren: Claire Casey and her husband Matt, Ian Wightman and his wife Katy, Graham Wightman, Carson Morales and his wife Jenna, Madeline Morales, Caroline Morales, and Meredith Sloan and Margot Sloan, and by three great grandchildren, Mallory, Evan and Emily Casey. He loved and was also beloved by his Norwegian foreign exchange "daughter", Gyrid Jerve, and her family in Oslo, Norway, and by his Chinese "daughter", housemate and friend, Yifan Zhang, during the past four years. A resident of Elm Grove for forty-eight years, he also served for two years as a Waukesha County Commissioner.

Jim loved tennis, sailing, skiing, biking, exploring, telling jokes, trespassing, trying new things, and being with people. He had a joke for every occasion and an internal map of midwestern America drawn from his long and successful career as a manufacturer's representative for the dairy, packaging, and flavorings industries. Jim, with his deep knowledge of Waukesha County, was also a real estate and land developer, supporting small, local businesses for many years. More recently, he was also known and loved at his daughters' furniture consignment shop in Elm Grove, and was their designated "go-fer" - buying lunch for the staff, making runs to the hardware store and helping with customer relations. He had an outsized personality, took an interest in everyone, and was a great example of happiness. His favorite admonishment to his children was, "get happy."

A celebration of his life will take place at Thunder Bay Grille in Pewaukee, WI on Saturday, November 16 at 5:30 pm. In lieu of flowers, charitable donations to https://www.kidsave.org are requested.