Carolyn Williams

June 15 1946 – May 22 2024

Carolyn Williams, 77, of Colville, Washington, passed away peacefully in the early hours of May 22, 2024 in her home after having been diagnosed with glioblastoma approximately three months prior.  She was born Carolyn Louise Cruger to parents Virginia (Nicholl) and Paul Cruger of Otis Orchards, Washington, on June 15, 1946.

Carolyn was raised in Otis Orchards, graduating from East Valley High School in Spokane in 1964 where she was a state champion athlete.  She sang in a trio for many years with her sisters, accompanied by their mother, as The Country Cruger Sisters.  She later married James Williams on September 7, 1968, in Spokane Washington and moved to Colville.  While raising her two children, Carolyn was a child evangelist for 18 years, ministering to children in the Pacific Northwest, Alaska, and Canada.  She established the "Scratch N' Hatch Idea Company" and ran the motivational gifts and awards company from her home for several years.  Carolyn played the acoustic string bass in music ministry groups, at church, and in the Woodland Theatre.  She also composed her own dramatic monologues, served on women's ministries boards, traveled to Kenya, Myanmar, Wales, and the Xinjiang Region in China ministering to children in orphanages and to various women's groups.  She also traveled to Chile after becoming a Certified Nursing Assistant and working for 10 years at Mount Carmel Hospital. Carolyn developed a keen interest in family history, authoring several books and manuscripts on the subject, along with a compilation of missionary letters home.

Most notably, Carolyn did all of these things with a firm conviction in her faith accompanied by a strong tendency to tease people, an ear-splitting whistle, a precocious sense of humor, infectious smile, and easy laughter.

She was proceeded in death by her loving husband, James Paul Williams.

Carolyn is survived by her son Matthew and wife Jennifer, their children Benjamin and Alex, her son Thomas and wife Elefteria, their children Isidoros and Gerald, and her sisters Gloria and Cathy, sisters-in-law Joyce, Diane, and Lynette and brothers-in-law David and Darryl.

A service honoring Carolyn's very full life will be held on Sunday, May 26th at First Baptist Church Colville at 2:00 PM. Carolyn will be laid to rest at a later date in a private service at Mountain View Park in Colville alongside her loving husband Jim who passed away in 2020.

In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to the Stevens County Historical Society Museum.