James Winston Williams passed away very peacefully on Saturday, February 1st at the age of 81. Jim was born on July 5th, 1943 to Reverends James and Mary (Yoder) Williams. He was one of six spirited siblings including Jerald, Barbara, Patricia, J.O., and Jack. He married the love of his life, Sue Winkle Williams, on August 14th of 1965 and they were married for nearly 60 years. They had one precocious child, Joshua Holbrook Williams, on October 17th, 1968.

Jim earned his Bachelor's and Master's Degrees in Business at Oklahoma State University. He was also a veteran of the Air Force and was lauded for being the first person at the prestigious Westover Air Force base (Strategic Air Command) in Massachusetts to computerize TDY payroll for soldiers. Jim was later the Marketing Director for the Daily Oklahoman, Cleveland Press, San Antonio Light and other prominent newspapers.

In everyday life, Jim was a born salesman and was regularly wheeling and dealing to get perks like unlimited golf at a local country club in San Antonio (being their part time photographer) and driving imported luxury sports cars for free for months at a time (agreeing to write newspaper reviews about them). His best sales job though was landing Sue who he picked up on a bicycle on their first date at OSU to "test her" (in reality he probably didn't have gas money).

Throughout the years, Jim was always the life of the party. He brought a contagious buzz to every gathering and always amped up the energy level. He and his brothers were elite wrestlers and Jim attacked life like a wrestler. He did things his own way and was a force to be reckoned with…from barefoot water skiing to driving a car with no doors.

Jim did handstands when riding skateboards, played handball and racquetball like the Tasmanian Devil, and played pickup basketball games at the YMCA like Game 7 of the NBA Championship Finals. His gusto for life was also evident when he wrestled his brother Jerald in a three-piece suit on our front lawn in front of our bewildered neighbors.

He also played the trumpet (given to him by Patricia) very well and VERY loudly, even when he moved to the St. Simeon's Memory Center. Jim danced enthusiastically with Sue anytime an ABBA song came on the radio and few people knew that Jim and Sue also spoke a little Spanish, although Jim could never remember that "leche" meant milk instead of beer.

Jim was also very caring and compassionate. He would regularly stop and help people change tires on the road (even when it was raining), use his own Triple AAA account to get people towed safely home, and would do things like setting up rotating schedules to care for sick relatives.

This active caring was especially true with his family. He had a great relationship with his father and he adored his parents, siblings, nephews/nieces, wife and son. Jim went out of his way to make Sue happy and they were a formidable duo (and Sue took amazing care of Jim in his final years). Jim and Josh were thick as thieves when Josh was growing up. They were always playing father/son tennis tournaments, going to OSU games, playing chess, riding motorcycles, battling in ping pong etc. He was ahead of his time in terms of taking care of Josh which helped Sue to not only be a great Mom but also pursue her own career.

Overall, Jim provided unconditional love to those he cared for most and it was reciprocated completely. He was very loving and was extremely loved in return. Jim will be greatly missed because of the utter uniqueness and force of his character and by the many lives he touched over the years.

Jim's celebration of life will take place on Friday, February 7th from 4:00-6:00pm at Stanleys Funeral Service. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the Children's Defense Fund (childrensdefense.org).

In lieu of flowers, donations be made in Jim's memory to Children's Defense Fund .

Click HERE to upload and share a few of your favorite photos of Jim (by 12PM Thursday)