Max W. Williams, 90
Max W. Williams, 90, passed away Dec. 24, 2007, at the Montana Veterans Home in Columbia Falls, where he had resided for the past three years.
Max was born Sept. 26, 1917, in Provo, Utah, to Willard and Marie Williams. He attended school in Provo and Orem, Utah. He worked on the family farm and dairy as a young man.
In 1941, he joined the Army and served during World War II in Africa, Southern France and Germany.
After the war he returned to Utah and worked in the family grocery store until he moved to Montana.
After moving to Montana, he worked as a foreman on the Hungry Horse Dam and later on Box Canyon Dam in Ione, Wash. Max then became a timber faller, working for several logging companies. He later worked for Glacier National Park and helped clear the Going to the Sun Road every spring. He retired from the Park Service several times but each spring he would go back for "just one more year."
He owned and operated Angels Tavern in Coram, with Charlotte (Parker) Williams, until selling it in 1973. He was a founding member of the Coram Water Department, placing many of the original water lines. Max resided in Coram from 1949 to 2004, when he moved to the Montana Veterans Home in Columbia Falls.
Max was married to Frances Diller in 1949. They had three children, Susan, Joan and Bill. This marriage ended in divorce.
Max married Charlotte Parker in 1967. She passed away in 1974. He then married Doris Fitzpatrick, who preceded him in death in 2003.
He was also preceded in death by his parents; brother, Warren "Bill" Williams; sisters, Elleanora Skinner, Edith Jones and Maurine Madsen; son-in-law, Darryl Parker; and grandson, Robert Parker.
He is survived by two sisters, Lois Park and Norma Hiatt; two daughters, Susan Parker of Pasadena, Md., and Joan Kelly and son-in-law, Dick Kelly of Priest River, Idaho; one son, Bill Williams, of Coram; grandchildren, Shawna Bandoch, Sheree Reich, Jody Barta and Jennifer Kelly; and eight great-grandchildren. He is also survived by stepsons, Jerry Ivers, Ed Ivers, Ron Ivers, Tom Ivers, and Mike Fitzpatrick; stepdaughters, Carol Truskowski and Jeanie Weber; as well as numerous stepgrandchildren.
There will be a memorial service at 10 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 2, at Columbia Mortuary in Columbia Falls.