Michael DeeLee Williams
Michael DeeLee Williams
Cedar Rapids
Please join us for a memorial service to celebrate the life of Michael DeeLee Williams. We will gather together on Friday, Nov. 25, 2022, at 4:30 p.m. at Hamilton’s Funeral Home, 3601 Westown Pkwy. in West Des Moines, Iowa, to remember our wonderful father who will be greatly missed. Please bring your fondest memories of Michael to share with family and friends.
Michael DeeLee Williams, master of his own domain, king of his castle, passed away peacefully surrounded by his loving sons, on March 21, 2022 – the first day of spring.
Michael was born to Mabel and Charles Williams on Feb. 23, 1954, and was raised in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
He was a winter baby and loved the season through and through. He always looked forward to the annual family feats of strength competition and the celebration of Festivus.
The first of his family to attend college, Michael graduated from Cornell College in Mount Vernon, Iowa, with a focus on business administration. Michael worked his way through college working at Pizza Hut delivering pizzas, and eventually became a store manager. He was later promoted to Yum! Brands corporate management where he worked for the duration of his career. Michael spent his career focusing on quality control and customer satisfaction, taking great pride in the happiness of the customers he served with a “top of the muffin to ya” positive attitude. One of his career highlights was lead consultant to Vandelay Industries in adopting importing/exporting strategies.
Michael loved sports – playing, watching, learning history, all of it. He was a lifelong fan of the Boston Celtics, Chicago Bears, and New York Yankees, making pilgrimages to see his teams win a championship. In 2008, Micheal attended the last game played at the Yankee stadium before it closed.
Michael’s favorite thing in life was being a father to his two sons, Jeremy and Christopher, who he raised while settling in West Des Moines, Iowa. He enjoyed attending their sporting (Jeremy) and theatrical (Chris) endeavors throughout middle and high school. Michael was never a “Big Salad” kind of guy, he enjoyed steak with a pinkish hue and good conversation with his boys.
Michael traveled extensively throughout the country as part of his job but always enjoyed taking weekend trips with his boys. Two memorable trips include a Christmas in Colorado to ski and snowboard, and a fall trip to New York City. In keeping with Michael’s style of living-it-up-when-you-can, they saw David Letterman, two Broadway shows, a Yankees game, ate at the iconic Seinfeld coffee shop (Tom’s restaurant), yada yada.
Michael is survived by his two sons, Jeremy of Boulder, Colo., and Christopher and grandpup Bear of Minneapolis. He was preceded in death by his father Charles, mother Mabel, sister Susan Staab, and grandpup Milo.
An intimate ceremony to spread Michael’s ashes in Hawaii, the place Michael longed to visit but didn’t get a chance to in this lifetime, is planned for next February.