Grace E. Williams, 89, Spearfish, SD went to be with the Lord on October 26, 2011 at Spearfish Regional Hospital.

Memorial Services will be held at 3:00PM on Saturday, October 29, 2011 at the Whitetail Cemetery in Whitetail, MT.

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 at Tacoma, WA at the Todd Pacific Ship Yards and welded until after World War II. She was one of the first women to work in the ship yards.

In 1946 they moved to Troy, MT where she worked in a grocery store. They then moved to Libby, MT and she worked in a filling station and bookkeeping. Then moved to Seattle, WA 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 4 children. While her children were in school, she cooked at the Lustre Christian High in Lustre, MT. She also cooked at various church camps and at the hospital in Scobey, MT. She also stayed with and was a part-time care giver for the children of the Summer family.


In 1980 Grace moved to Kalispell, MT to be close to her mother. While she was 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 privileged to know. In 2010 Grace moved to Spearfish, SD to be close to her daughters and their families.

Survivors include: 2 sons Floyd (Diane) Williams and Paul (Shelly) Williams both from Arkansas; 2 daughters Teresa (Teri) McGriff, Spearfish, SD and Inez (Alan) Clark, Gillette, WY; 2 brothers Donald (Myrna) Goudy, Seattle, WA and Ambrose (Beverly) Goudy, Great Falls, MT; sister-in-law MaeBelle Goudy, Fergus Falls, MN; 5 sisters May Sledjeski, Tacoma, WA, Inez (Glen) Tweet, Seattle, WA, Lucille Mott, Otisorchards, WA, Edithe Burgess, Kalispell, MT, and Georgia Stack, Spokane, WA.; 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; 2 sisters Miriam Goudy and Emma Goudy; 2 brothers George Goudy and John Goudy.