Grace E. Williams, 89

 Grace E. Williams, 89, of Spearfish, S.D., “went to be with the Lord” Oct. 26, 2011, at Spearfish Regional Memorial Hospital. 

 Grace was born July 8, 1922, near Whitetail. She was the oldest of 12 children in the family of Ambrose and Threseasa Goudy. 

She married Floyd (Bill) Williams on Aug. 17, 1940, at Scobey, MT and farmed at Whitetail.

At age 21 Grace and Bill worked in Tacoma, Wash., at the Todd Pacific Shipyards and welded until after World War II. She was one of the first women to work in the shipyards..

In 1946 they moved to Troy, where she worked in a grocery store. They then moved to Libby and she worked in a filling station and did bookkeeping. They then moved to Seattle, where they were partners in a grocery store business with Grace's sister and brother-in-law, Inez and Glen, and later owned the store, which was called the Friendly Market. Soon after, Grace worked at Boeing and riveted on the first 707 airplane and the KC135 military version of the 707. 

In 1960 Grace and Bill moved back to Whitetail to farm. After Bill passed away, Grace raised four children. While her children were in school, she cooked at the Lustre Christian High School in Lustre, Mont. She also cooked at various church camps and at the hospital in Scobey. She also stayed with and was a part-time caregiver for the children of the Summer family.

In 1980 Grace moved to Kalispell to be closer to her mother. While there, she helped the elderly with their daily tasks so they could stay in their homes longer. She attended the Bethel Baptist Church, which became her extended family. She loved and appreciated all the families she had the privilege to know.

In 2010 Grace moved to Spearfish to be closer to her daughters and their families.

Survivors include her two sons, Floyd and Diane Williams, and Paul and Shelly Williams, all of Arkansas; two daughters, Teresa “Teri” McGriff of Spearfish, and Inez and Alan Clark of Gillette, Wyo.; two brothers, Donald and Myrna Goudy of Seattle, and Ambrose and Beverly Goudy of Great Falls; sister-in-law, MaeBelle Goudy of Fergus Falls, Minn.; five sisters, May Sledjeski of Tacoma, Wash., Inez and Glen Tweet of Seattle, Lucille Mott of Otis Orchards, Wash., Edithe Burgess of Kalispell, and Georgia Stack of Spokane; and also many grandchildren, great-grandchildren, nieces, nephews and special friends.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Floyd “Bill” Williams; parents, Ambrose and Threseasa Goudy; two sisters, Miriam Goudy and Emma Goudy; and two brothers, George Goudy and John Goudy.

Memorial services were held on Saturday, Oct. 29 at the Whitetail Cemetery in Whitetail.