Doug Williams, 91, died Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2024, in Fargo from lung cancer.
Douglas Elwood Williams was born May 8, 1932, in Fargo to Cecil and Helen (Sorenson) Williams. A Depression baby, Santa always put an orange in his Christmas stocking. He graduated in 1950 from Fargo Central High School.
Following graduation, he was stationed at the Great Lakes Naval Station in Duluth. He did his basic training for the Naval Reserve onboard a ship in Lake Superior, where he was seasick the entire time. When his reserve enlistment was up, he joined the Army ROTC at North Dakota Agricultural College. He had to go through basic training again. He graduated in 1954 with a bachelor’s of science in economics. Following graduation from NDAC, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army. Doug then went through basic training for a third time. He served in the Army for two years. While in college, Doug met Audrey Little in the flute section of the Gold Star Band. They were engaged after Doug graduated college. Doug then lived in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where he was stationed at Fort Carson as a second lieutenant in charge of (wait for it) basic training.
Doug and Audrey married Dec. 17, 1955, in Mayville. The temperature was -22. They honeymooned in Grand Forks, where every morning they woke up, Doug had a flat tire from the cold. They returned to Fort Carson. When Doug’s enlistment was up, the couple moved to Grand Forks, where Audrey became a home appliance demonstrator. Doug began work on a master’s degree in speech and mass communications at the University of North Dakota; he graduated in 1958.
Following the birth of their first child while Doug was in grad school and having no money, Doug and Audrey exchanged Christmas gifts of a diaper pin with Cheerios on it and a jar of peanut butter, respectively. Doug worked for KXJB as an advertising salesman in Bismarck, where the family lived from 1958-63. They moved to Fargo, where Doug began working for Northwestern Mutual Life as an agent. In 1969, the family moved to Grand Forks when Doug became the district agent for Northwestern Mutual. He retired as a special agent in 1997, after the Williamses house flooded in the Red River flood that year.
Doug was a past president of the Grand Forks County Red Cross and a former president of the North Dakota Life Underwriters Association. He also was a member of choirs in multiple churches.
Audrey died Oct. 6, 2014. Doug lived in the same house for 49 years until he moved to Fargo in 2018 to be closer to family. Many thanks to the staff of Edgewood Vista and Hospice of the Red River Valley.
Doug enjoyed hunting, fishing, trap shooting, traveling, camping, driving, and sharing time with family. After Audrey died, Doug said, “I have someone to do something with, but I have no one to do nothing with.”
Doug will be remembered as an honorable man with a great funny bone. He enjoyed a good meal with family.
Doug is survived by his children: Kathy (Keith) Anderson, of Sioux Falls; Amy (Lee) Richau, of Fort Collins, Colorado; and Rebecca (Robert) Dura, of Fargo; six grandchildren: Erik Anderson, Tim (Gabby) Anderson, Aris (Steve) Wilde, Doug (Taylir) Richau, Jack Dura and Rachel Dura; five great-grandchildren, sister Lois Briggs, and numerous nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents, brother Cecil, and wife Audrey.
A memorial service will be held on May 25, 2024 at 2:00 PM at First Presbyterian in Fargo, ND. Interment will be in Riverside Cemetery, Fargo.
Arrangements entrusted to Hanson-Runsvold Funeral Home – Fargo, ND