Samuel Wayne WILLIAMS

WILLIAMS, Samuel Wayne (Age 89) Samuel Wayne Williams, retired Architecture profes-sor at Washington State University and Pullman, Washington resident for the past half-century, passed away quietly at home on July 8, 2020 at the age of 89, surrounded by his loving family. Sam, who also went by his middle name, Wayne, for most of his professional career, was married for the last 46 years and was still completely in love with his wife, Annette. He was the proud father of seven children, 9 grandchildren, and one great-grandson. Sam is survived by his loving wife, Annette Williams (nee Nevdahl); his children, Kevin (Denise) Williams, Karen (Frank) White, Kenneth (Karleen) Williams, Kim (Tim) Flotlin, and Casey Williams, and sisters, Jan Sparks and Linda (Jonathan) Cooke. He is predeceased by his parents, Palmer and Edna (Thompson) Williams, his sister, Katherine Mitchem, and two of his sons Ian Curet Williams and Shane Tyler Willams. He is fondly remembered by nine grandchildren: Jake Williams and Ashley (Tom) Skoblicki, Trevor, David, and Michael White, Keegan and Kaleb Williams and Hannah and Sarah Flotlin. He never had the chance to meet his one-year-old great grandchild Eddie Skoblicki, but enjoyed all the wonderful photos. Sam was born in Wilson, Oklahoma to Palmer and Edna (Thompson) Williams. The family moved to New Iberia, Louisiana when Sam was young. He graduated from New Iberia High School where he played the sousaphone. Sam's first job was as a young high school student, sweeping up at a local drinking establishment. He told the story that it wasn't until after he reached adulthood that he figured out that the upstairs of the bar was actually a whorehouse and that his favorite waitress at the bar wasn't just tired a lot. Sam was a Veteran of the war in Korea and served in the Navy. He trained as an aviation electronics Tech and deployed to war as a member of Composite Squadron 11 (CV-11) aboard the USS Bairoko (CVE-115). He later served with CV-35 out of NAS San Diego. After the war, Sam finished college in Stillwater, Oklahoma receiving both undergraduate and graduate degrees in Architecture. He taught architecture at Oklahoma State University as a graduate student, and then moved to teach at University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona from 1959 to 1968. In 1968, he moved his family to Pullman Washington, where the predominant outdoor color is green, there are four seasons (and many trees) it was a fabulous change from the Arizona desert. He was a member of the Architecture Department at Washington State University until retiring in 1996. Education was his passion, and Sam was a purist. He was an outspoken advocate for both students and faculty, sometimes chafing under the administration and bureaucracy. He did not often endear himself to the powers that be, but it was always with good intent to better the educational experience. As a professor, he colored outside the lines in his classes. Because teaching seems to require the sorts of skills one would need to "pilot a bus of live chickens backwards with no brakes down a rocky road through the Andes while providing color commentary on the history and scenery," our Dad was known to teach while walking across the tops of drafting tables and file cabinets in the classroom, and was a big fan of the timeline as a visual representation of the past, future, and current status of a project. One of Sam's favorite sayings was: "Education ain't cheap, son" and he wasn't just talking about college tuition: good judgement comes from experience. A lot of experience comes from bad judgement. Sam would be the first to admit that he had lots of 'experience'. Sam lived under 15 presidents, and witnessed (via radio broadcast), the US response to the attack at Pearl Harbor; (via television broadcast) the attacks on September 11, 2001, and most recently the US response to the global COVID-19 pandemic. He was a child during the Great Depression and WWII. He served during the Korean War and protested the Vietnam War. Four of his children served during the Cold War, one served during the first Gulf War, and a grandchild has been serving during the ongoing Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Sam went from using a slide rule to calculate angles, quantities, and other architectural data, to using a calculator and computer programs. During his life, electric razors, ballpoint pens, Velcro, White-Out, Sticky notes, LP records, television, 8-track tapes, cassette tapes, CDs, iPod digital music players, self-propelled lawn mowers, 4-wheel drive, power tools, personal computers, smart phones, and the all-important closed captioning became available. He lived a life full of art, children, travel, and accomplishments. After retirement, Sam was able to relax a lot more and enjoy the "just being alive and love your kids" portion of the program. He embraced the philosophy of "Live Simply, Love Generously, Care Deeply, and Speak Kindly," especially to his family, but also to people in the service industry, like wait staff, baristas, and caregivers. He loved to cook and would binge-watch the Cooking channel. Sam had the hoarding gene that manifested in collecting art supplies an inherited tendency that he passed on to all of his children. He kept a daily journal that he called his "brain", where he would jot random thoughts, sketches and doodles. We find these notebooks to be an incredible voyage of discovery into our father's amazing mind and artistic talent. One of his greatest joys was the regular conference calls with his sisters, Linda and Jenny. They could make him giggle and belly laugh so hard that he cried. He adored Annette, his wife of 46 years, and despite being hard-of-hearing, Sam's ears were fine-tuned to the sound of her voice. He made extra sure with every interaction (mostly by phone during the final months) - that his kids knew that he loved us and was so very proud to be our Dad, while self-effacingly, but erroneously, taking no credit for having raised or influenced us in any way. We hope that in the hereafter, Sam's beloved sons, Shane and Ian, greet and accompany him to the rainbow bridge to reunite with Duke, Prancer, Milton, Murphy, Marley and all the past dogs that have added love, affection and fullness of life to the Williams family over the years. In lieu of flowers, we have an ongoing thread of 'Sam anecdotes and memories' on Annette Nevdahl Williams' Facebook page, and would welcome any contributions. The family wishes to extend our sincere thanks to Kindred Hospice and especially his nurse Lori Gines. We also thank Nancy Gregory for all the care and concern she extended Wayne over the years. You may leave condolences with Kimball Funeral Home at www.kimballfh.com.