Feb. 24, 1945 ~ Feb. 24, 2024
Keith Alan Williams of Spanish Fork, Utah, died at 11:55 p.m. on February 24, 2024, the last five minutes of his 79th birthday.
He died fighting a courageous battle with cancer.
Dad was born February 24, 1945, to Ray Daniel and Ina Holley Williams. He was the third in line of four boys: Dan, Leon, Keith, and Mont. Dad attended schools in Spanish Fork and graduated from Spanish Fork High School in 1963. He went to college at Utah State University, Snow College, and served seven years in the Utah National Guard. He married Sharan Johnson in 1975 and they later divorced. Dad raised four children: Natalie, Alan, Lisa and Jared. He was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He had a firm testimony of Jesus Christ and His gospel, and also had a testimony of the benefits of paying tithing.
Dad’s two favorite things were farming and family. Fortunately for him, those two things wove together throughout his entire life. His world abruptly changed when at the tender age of 22, his own father passed away, and he took over the family farming operations. With the love of his mother, the support of his brothers, and the mentoring and kindness of his father’s farming friends, he successfully took on this responsibility and built a farming and ranching legacy to be proud of.
Dad measured a year not so much by months and days, but rather by seasons of calving cows, working ground and spring planting, putting up hay and endless days and nights of irrigating crops, getting cattle branded and taken to summer range, working hand in hand with Mother Nature to tend the crops, reap the harvest, gather the cattle back home, and then prep to do it all again the next year. Dad truly embodied Paul Harvey’s anthem “And on the 8th day, God made a farmer.”
Dad won various awards throughout his farming career. His knack for producing and feeding his cattle exactly what was needed to yield the best beef was the result of his love of the land and the reverence of being a steward over it. His children loved working alongside him. Some of our best memories are of working together as a family. We were proud to see him receive the Ca:leman’s Lifetime Achievement award in February of 2022.
Dad loved going to auctions, and was a sucker for a customer appreciation lunch. He always started his day with a big breakfast, saying if you’re going to be working hard, it’s the most important way to start out your day. He made the best canyon style potatoes, and we all loved when he shared his own invention, the infamous tapper milkshake.
Dad always slowed when passing a field of crops to see how high the corn or grain was, or how good the alfalfa looked. He enjoyed going to Husker Harvest days, and loved a good road trip to pick up a trailer or an implement of some kind. He loved his tractors. If dad was behind the wheel of a tractor, he was happy. He especially had a love of John Deere tractors, and had so much fun touring the John Deere factory.
Dad’s love of farming and ranching passed to his sons, and they have continued to expand their operations. Dad would watch his boys work while singing in his car when he was too sick to participate.
Dad had a special bond with his brothers. Four years a?er his father’s death, his older brother Leon passed away. We know he is having a great reunion with him now. He loved his brothers, and they were his best friends. Dad helped Dan and Mont with cattle and farming, and they returned the favor. Branding cows and chopping corn were two big yearly family affairs.
Dad talked to his brothers nearly every day. As a family, we took several family vacations together, camped together for the annual deer hunt, roasted hotdogs at the annual Easter picnic, and enjoyed many other spontaneous gatherings where there was always good food, laughter, and fun. Birthdays in the Williams family were a big deal, and nobody could sing a more roof-raising rendition of Happy Birthday than our family clan. These are all events dad cherished and looked forward to, and though we will continue on with them, it won’t be the same without him here.
Dad was a fun grandpa and spent a lot of ;me with his grandchildren. He loved playing games and watching the kids have fun. He loved to tease, and his grandkids all loved his little sayings and/or songs he had for them. Dad taught by example that family is what is important in life. His children strive to have the same bond amongst us as he had with his brothers. Thank you, dad, for teaching us that important life lesson.
Dad fought a courageous battle with cancer. He never gave up, and was working towards getting better to be back on the farm just one more day. Once his body wasn’t going to win the battle, he was able to go quickly and peacefully. He made it back to his parents and brother just in time for a bigger birthday celebration.
Dad was preceded in death by his parents and his brother, Leon. He is survived by his children: Natalie (Brent) Lake, Alan (Mindee) Williams, Lisa (Mike) Walburger, and Jared (Bailee) Williams. He has 12 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. He is also survived by his brothers Dan (Karen) Williams and Mont (Kim) Williams.
His four children want to express our thanks to the Millard County Care and Rehab Center for their loving care of dad during his last days here on earth. We are also indebted to our sister, Lisa, who took the brunt of dad’s care at home in Spanish Fork. She spent countless hours helping him with meals, doctor appointments, grocery shopping runs, and making sure he didn’t spend too much ;me alone. We appreciate all she did for dad.
A viewing will be held in his honor on Wednesday, February 28, 2024, at Walker Mortuary in Spanish Fork from 6 to 8 p.m.
A graveside service will be held at 11 a.m. on Thursday, February 29, 2024, at the Spanish Fork Cemetery.
