Walker Timothy Williams, Walker T, Mr. Williams, Uncle Timmy, Papa, Tim passed away early in the morning on August 25, 2026. At just 65 years young, cancer took him far too soon from the family and friends who loved him.
Born in March of 1961, in Columbus, Ohio, Tim grew up on Lake Macatawa in Holland. He attended Holland High School before heading to Michigan State University, where he studied Health Education. Eventually, he dove into a career in sales, spending time as a showroom manager at NBC Supply Company, decades leading sales with Richards showroom selling high end bath supplies, and later spent time in retail with Art Van Furniture.
He met the love of his life, Lesa, in Saugatuck, wooing her as a “beach boy” and spending the next 40 years building a life together. They married in the summer of 1989 and immediately wanted to start a family. Fatherhood was something that Tim had deeply looked forward to and cherished most. He and Lesa endured some impossibly hard times, especially after losing their youngest daughter, yet their love and infatuation for one another was impossible not to witness and admire; as was their relentless playful banter and their epic dance moves.
Together, Lesa and Tim raised their two daughters in the Saugatuck area; these formative years included Tim’s insatiable appetite for building, renovating, and selling houses. They moved every couple of years, living in 16 different houses, with the help of his handy brothers. His brothers were not just family; they were his very closest friends, partners in competitions, countless projects, moves, and memorable stories. Some of Tim’s fondest years were spent living in the residential neighborhoods of Clearview Lane and Sambroek Lane.
Tim was happiest on a court or a course, around a table eating a home-cooked meal, playing games with “his” grandbabies, frolicing near the lake, or soaking up the warmth of Melbourne Beach. He was a charming salesman, someone who loved to overindulge and a man who was perhaps most content reading in the comfort of home. He had a huge, sensitive heart that could bring him to instant tears over sappy commercials, and he was an avid sports fan who never missed watching a Michigan State game.
Every person who was close to Tim, in any chapter of his life, immediately mentions his notable sense of humor. He had a way of turning almost anything into a joke, sometimes with big gestures, ridiculous faces, goofy noises, perfectly timed bodily humor, and the kind of unapologetically immature jokes that somehow never got old. He was notorious for making people belly-laugh-snort. His contagious, bellowing laughter would echo through any room, and before long, wild stories were being told (yet again).
His grandchildren especially adored this side of him. Papa never seemed to outgrow his inner teenage boy and they loved him all the more for it.
Even as his world became smaller, his ability to crack a joke and make his girls feel lighter never left him. Through it all, Tim kept making the people around him laugh with his goofy, boisterous humor. He suffered through a grueling year of treatment and countless hospital stays, but right until the end, he was making all of us (and his care team) giggle.
He leaves behind his wife, Lesa; daughter Whitney & William Valentine; his beloved grandchildren, Waldyn, Wrennly, and Wylder Valentine; and his siblings, Skip & Gretchen Williams, Eddie & Angela Williams, and Wendy Williams & Jeff Reinink; three sisters-in-law, father-in-law, Jerry Arnett, as well as, many nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by his daughter, Halie Williams; his parents, Chuck & Gloria Williams; and his brothers, Stark and Scott Williams.
Per his request, there will be no traditional service. Instead, there will be a rambunctious family gathering with dancing and ice cold beer.
Go Green!
Comments