Ellen Isabel Williams

Isabel Olinger Williams

Isabel Olinger Williams, age 90, passed away from heart failure on the evening of July 5, 2007 at the home of her daughter, Sharon Mule, in Orange, Calif. She is survived by her daughters, Sharon Mulé and Steffanie Williams, as well as her grandchildren, Alexander, Elizabeth, and Emily.

Isabel was born, Ellen Isabel Olinger on January 28, 1917 in Douglas. She was the daughter of Albert James Olinger and Margaret Pfister Olinger and grew up on a ranch with her parents and her older brother, Donald, outside of Lusk. She graduated valedictorian from Lusk High School and got her college degree from the University of Wyoming. It was at the end of WWII that she took a position as a secretary for a construction firm that brought her to the Philippines for the post-war reconstruction. There she met her husband, Percy L. Williams, a pilot in the Air Force, and was married in Japan.

Isabel's life as a military wife took her, in 1960, to Ramey AFB, Puerto Rico, where her husband eventually retired. She remained in Puerto Rico after her husband's death in 1978 and taught at Ramey until she was 77 years of age, completing an exemplary teaching career that spanned over 50 years. Isabel is also to be remembered for her life of service to others that extended beyond her family and students. She shared her home and her wisdom with great willingness and grace, never turning her back on a friend or a stranger in need.

A memorial is planned for December at her home in Puerto Rico where some of her ashes will be scattered; the remainders to be placed with her daughters, in Lusk by the graves of her parents, and in Arlington Cemetery by the grave of her husband. In lieu of flowers, mourners are asked to donate to the Isabel Williams Scholarship which will be awarded to a deserving college bound senior from Ramey High School. Checks can be mailed to: Isabel Williams Scholarship, PO Box 250-147, Aguadilla, Puerto Rico 00604-0147.

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