Dorothy Kirby Williams, 82

Dorothy Kirby Williams of Evergreen died Dec. 2, 2011, at Brendan House.

She was born Nov. 20, 1929, in Harrisonville, N.J., to John Jacob and Hazel Jones Kirby.

Educated in New Jersey and at George School in Pennsylvania, where she met many of her lifelong friends, she then went on to graduate from the Philadelphia School of Art in 1952. Upon graduation, she taught school in Delaware and Colorado.

She met Davis W. “Bud” Williams when he showed up at her family Thanksgiving dinner with her cousin whom he was friends with in the Air Force. They were married the next Thanksgiving weekend, in Sheridan, Wyo., on Nov. 25, 1955.

They started their life together first in Denver, then to Billings, and in 1958 came to the Flathead Valley where they would make their home for the rest of their lives. They owned the Midway Drive-In in Columbia Falls and then Boisvert’s Camp at McGregor Lake before making their way to Kalispell.

Dorothy loved teaching and taught at the Evergreen Schools as a Title I aide from 1968 to 1987. She was a member of the First Presbyterian Church and a volunteer for the Humane Society for many years.

She was a great lover of art, theater and film. One of her greatest memories was being one of the first to "discover" Marlon Brando when she saw him in his breakout role as Stanley Kowalski in “A Streetcar Named Desire” on Broadway in 1949.

Dorothy was preceded in death by her parents; her husband; infant daughter, Christina; and her two sisters, Marion Farley and Emily Crane.

She is survived by her son, Matthew D. Williams, his wife Dorie Moniz Williams; son, Daniel J. Williams, his wife Kim Kessler Williams; grandchildren, Jaycee, Bob and Katelynn; and numerous nieces and nephews.

A private scattering of her ashes will take place in the spring. She had requested that memorials be made to the Northwest Humane Society.

“We love and miss you, Mom.”