Richard “Dick” Dean Williams
December 12, 1939 – June 19, 2025
Dick Williams passed away June 19, 2025 in Cloverdale California. He was born on December 12, 1939 in Pearson Oklahoma to Anna Marie (Beleu) and Roy Leon Williams. He was the second of 6 children.
In 1941 his family including aunts, uncles, and grandparents moved to California to work in the shipyards. While his parents and their siblings worked building ships during World War II, grandma took care of the kids. Dick had many stories and one of them was of wandering off one day and finding a “bummie” sitting alongside the railroad tracks. The man asked if Dick was hungry. Dick said yes, and the man shared a sandwich with him. His family found him safe and happy. Dick would have been about 3-4 years old. It was a different time.
Dick once wrote down all of the places he lived prior to marriage including such details as names of landlords, addresses, and whether or not there was running water. During the first 20 years of his life he lived in 17-18 places throughout the Salinas Valley, Richmond, and Oakland areas.
As he grew up Dick learned masonry and fine woodworking from his grandfather and carpentry and other construction skills from his father. He was fortunate to live in a time when schools provided the opportunity to learn skills as well as academics. He learned welding in junior high and mechanics in high school auto shop. He used those skills later in life to build two of his own homes and assist family and friends in building or repairing theirs. He built many fine retaining walls and laid the stone for several beautiful fireplace facades.
Dick was always working. As a youngster he had paper routes and collected pop bottles to pay for the Saturday afternoon movies. He worked at Enoch’s gas station as a teen. When the owner had to tend to a station across town, he handed Dick the keys and told him he was now the manager.
One of the many moves his family made was to Highland Drive in Salinas where he met 14-year-old Yvonne Rheingans. Yvonne would go next door to play with Dick’s younger sisters just so she could be near him. He was no fool. She was cute and sweet and the rest, as they say, is history. Dick and Yvonne married in June 1960, the week before Yvonne graduated from high school.
Dick worked for PG&E in power production for most of his adult life. He began at Moss Landing power plant – which both his father and father-in-law helped to build – as a helper. He transferred to the Morro Bay power plant, and he and Yvonne lived in Morro Bay until Dick bought a piece of property in Atascadero where they built their first home. It was touch and go, but daughter Shawn was born just after the house was finished in 1963.
Dick continued to educate himself between company provided training and correspondence courses. In the late 1960’s it became clear that there would be opportunities to advance his career in either nuclear or geothermal energy plants being under development by PG&E. Dick visited both the Geysers and Diablo Canyon sites and took courses in nuclear and solar energy. In 1970, the family moved to Healdsburg, and he began work at the Geysers as a Power Plant Operator. Over the years he advanced to head operations at the Geysers.
If you knew Dick, you knew that he loved to go camping, and for Dick camping also meant fishing. He also spent a good amount of time looking for gold, even purchasing a sluice, wetsuits for him and Yvonne, and a truck to haul everything in because Dick always wanted the best tools to do the job right. He and Yvonne enjoyed golfing and spent many a beautiful day on courses both near and far. Dick was all about tools. He loved to build, fix, and tinker with things in his garage, especially when his grandson, Joshua, was avidly watching. It wasn’t long before Joshua was joining his grandpa.
In 2003 Dick and Yvonne moved to McArthur, California where they enjoyed life on a 2.5 acre parcel, with a beautiful home that overlooked the picturesque mountains of Shasta County. Dick was able to finally realize his lifelong dream of owning a tractor … with every attachment known to man. In his final years, you could find him zipping around the property on his ATV, riding sidesaddle with his cane in a holster tending and tinkering as he went.
The family would like to thank Vine Ridge Senior Living staff and residents for the exemplary care, companionship, and positive environment provided this past year. You made all things possible.
Dick was preceded in death by his wife Yvonne (2013), granddaughter Sarah Sumpter (2015), Brothers Robert and Charles, and sister Patricia.
Dick is survived by his daughter Shawn Sumpter, son-in-law Brian Sumpter, grandson Joshua Sumpter and wife Erica, his sister Linda Lines, sister Connie York and husband James, and numerous nieces, nephews, and cousins.
At his request no services are planned.
Dick valued hard work and opportunity. He believed that having a varied skill set is valuable in being able to take advantage of opportunities. To that end, in lieu of flowers, please consider investing in skills education for youth in your area, whether that be by donating time, participating in fundraisers, helping to get programs started or just by helping a neighbor or providing a kid with a “helper” job so that they can learn and earn on their own way up.
