Joseph Marcus Williams passed on Sept. 10, 2023, at the age of 80. Joe was born on Jan. 1, 1943, to Frank and Fern Williams in Columbus, Ohio. Joe was the first baby born in Columbus in 1943, and among other gifts, he received a free ride home from the hospital in an ambulance with his mother. Each New Year’s celebration was accompanied with “Happy Birthday Joe!”

The Williams family moved to Eureka immediately after WWII, when Joe was two years old. Joe was very much a homebody, and rarely ventured from Eureka or Kneeland since his arrival in 1945. He often said everything he needed was in Humboldt County.

Joe attended local Eureka schools while pursuing his passion for horsemanship and roping, becoming a ranked team roper in the early 1960s. Joe met the love of his life, Linda Marie Jackson, as part of the horse community when she was a member of the Pegasus Patrol, and they were married in 1961.

Joe worked for Precision Lumber Company from 1960 until 1970 when the company closed. He then worked briefly for Twin Parks Lumber Company before beginning work for Schmidbauer Lumber Company in 1972, where he stayed until 2017. Joe was a model employee and quickly rose from the green-chain to debarker while at Precision Lumber Company. A great story about Joe concerns a meeting with George Schmidbauer, the owner of the fledgling Schmidbauer Lumber Company, who visited Joe in the hospital after an injury at Twin Parks Lumber Company to recruit him for work at his new sawmill. Joe’s reputation for quality hard work and reliability had become well known.

Joe and Linda dreamed of living a bucolic life on the Williams’ Kneeland family ranch, and they made their dream come true in 1971. Along with their three boys, Joe and Linda raised cattle, swine, goats, and chickens while supporting community events at Kneeland Elementary School. Joe also was on the Kneeland Volunteer Fire department board.

Much to the chagrin of Joe’s three boys, Schmidbauer Lumber Company had a 3.5-day work schedule (3x11, 1x6), which allowed 3.5 days per week to work on the ranch fixing fences, digging ditches, constructing buildings without electricity, and animal husbandry. Joe’s reputation for hard work definitely included working on the ranch.

Joe had a very close relationship with his parents, and therefore despite rising each workday at 4:30 a.m. to work a 11-hour shift at the mill, he would stop to visit his parents in Eureka each evening before making the 45-minute drive home to Kneeland.

Joe and Linda met at the age of 15 and were married at the age of 18. To say their relationship and marriage was the very definition of commitment and partnership would not be sufficient to describe the oneness they were and are.

Joe lived his life exactly the way he wanted to live it. He’ll be greatly missed by his family and friends, and everyone who ever had the pleasure of meeting him.

Joe was preceded in death by his parents, and his sister Veralee Biancani.

Joe is survived by his loving wife Linda, his brothers Cliff Williams and Bob Williams, his children Wayne Williams, Ed Williams (Lisa), and Patrick Williams (Stephanie), his grandchildren Danielle March (Jim), Brittany Brown (Rob), Joey Williams, Bill Williams, Bryan Williams, and Brye Williams, and his great grandchildren Lyra Brown, Jaxon Brown, Bennett March, and Margaret March.

No formal services will be held.

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