Obituary of George Jerry Williams

Born June 17, 1922 and passed away August 30, 2006. George grew up on a cattle ranch in rural South Dakota, outside of Rapid City. He was born to Katherine and George Williams, the middle child and only son. He had two sisters, Julia and Rose. After an all night bus ride through a snowstorm, he vowed that he would never live anyplace where it snowed and his family thinks he also developed a lifelong aversion to manual labor. He left the ranch to serve as a Navy pilot in WW2 and later went to medical school in Colorado. In 1948 he met Betty Lou Ticknor. They were married two years later, on September 12, 1950. He and "Ticker" would have celebrated their 56th wedding anniversary this year. He served in the Korean War on a troop transport as a medical officer. He did his internship at Oak Knoll Naval Base in Oakland California, where his first two children, Mary Jo and Lou Ann, were born. In 1953 the growing family moved to Lodi and George began his medical practice as a general practitioner and surgeon. Three more children quickly followed - Jeri Lynn, Michael, and Gina. He had a very successful medical practice in Lodi until 2000. He was very proud of the fact that he took care of generations of people and delivered over 3000 babies. He often said that medicine was 90% listening and 10% diagnosing, and his patients valued his kindness and good advice as much as his medical acumen. George learned to value education from his mother, a college graduate in the days when this was rare for women. He was very proud to tell everyone that his five children had nine college degrees among them. He had ten grandchildren who nicknamed him "Bompa" - Jeri and Matt Blote's children Jason, Jeff, and Jimmy; Mary Jo's children Lauren and Michael; Lou Ann and Blake Winchell's children Elizabeth, Andrew, and Richard; and Michael and Stacy Williams' children Samantha and George. The grandchildren could count on his generosity and constant exhortations to stay in school and study hard. He is also survived by a sister, Julia Matheson, and many nieces and nephews and their children who still live in South Dakota and the midwest. He loved football and had 49er season tickets for over fifty years. He also loved to watch high school and college sports. A true fanatic, he used to stack up TVs to watch two or three games at a time before remote controls were invented. He enjoyed playing golf and for many years had a standing foursome every Thursday afternoon and Sunday morning. He and Betty loved to travel and play golf together, and they played golf together in all 50 states, a feat he commemorated with a special piece of jewelry he designed for Ticker. He and Betty had a special home on the Pacific coast, where he relished playing golf with his friends in the "Mexican Mafia." Friends are invited to visit Monday from 9:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m. at Lodi Funeral Home. The Holy Rosary will be recited on Monday at 6:00 p.m. at Lodi Funeral Home. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at St. Anne's Catholic Church on Tuesay at 10:00 a.m. Committal will be private. In lieu of flowers, memorial remembrances may be made to St. Mary's High School, P.O. Box 7247, Stockton, CA 95267.