Paula Betty Williams

Paula Betty Williams, age 90, loving wife, mother, and grandmother-to-all, passed away peacefully on May 2, 2025.

Paula was extraordinary. She was endlessly generous with her love, wisdom, and sage advice. She was a force of nature-fueled by kindness, quick wit, and an unwavering sense of duty to family and community.

She is survived by her devoted daughter Deborah (Gene) Standish, son Joel (Rachel) Williams, and granddaughters Hannah and Lauren, in whom her humor, curiosity, and fierce loyalty live on. Her loving husband Murray, father Paul Silver and mother Pearl Schwartz-Feinberg preceded her in death.

Raised modestly by a single mother, Paula approached everyday life with a no-nonsense practicality: wear what's comfortable, invest wisely, spend wisely, and always know the difference between a need and a want.

Paula never stopped learning. Endlessly curious and worldly, Paula seemed to know something about everything-from human history and global cultures to the quirks of language and the roots of most English words. She was fluent in French and could bluff her way through Yiddish, German, and anything with Latin roots. A lifelong reader, she devoured books-two or three a week-gravitating toward historical nonfiction, biographies, crossword puzzles, and mysteries.

Paula was a full-time office manager who taught herself financial accounting and took on a second job as a bookkeeper. She also served as a kindergarten teacher, hospital volunteer, and ringleader of weekly senior luncheons-part educational forum and part comedy hour.

Known to many simply as "Grandma Paula," she extended warmth and wisdom far beyond family, embracing friends, neighbors, and anyone needing a nurturing cup of coffee and a bite of strudel.

Paula took deep joy in being a grandmother, whether babysitting, baking, knitting, crocheting, or chauffeuring her granddaughters to playdates and summer camp. Through her actions and the occasional knowing wink, she gently taught that strength isn't loud-it's found in showing up, loving deeply, laughing often, and staying true to what matters.

Service Friday, May 9 at 10:30 a.m. at Congregation Shir Tikvah, 1424 183rd St, Homewood, Illinois. Interment at Zion Gardens Cemetery, 3600 N Narragansett Ave, Chicago. Instead of flowers, memorials to the Jewish United Fund, 30 S. Wells Street, Chicago, IL 60606, https://donatenow.juf.org/ would be appreciated. Arrangements by Chicago Jewish Funerals – Buffalo Grove Chapel, 847.229.8822, www.cjfinfo.com