Robert Wilmot Williams

PEORIA – Robert (Rob) passed away peacefully surrounded by his family on the morning of September 1st, 2023.

Rob was born at the Lying-in Hospital in Manhattan, NY to Roger Williams (a pioneer in early 1900’s short-wave radio development and later a patent attorney), originally of Providence, RI, and Odessa Roane Lastrapes Williams (a mathematics teacher and later a child social worker), originally of New Orleans, LA. Rob was the seventh great grandson of Roger Williams who founded Rhode Island, and a distant cousin of President John Adams and his son.

Rob obtained a high quality education, first at Woodcastle School, then graduating in 1959 from high school at Bordentown Military Institute, both in New Jersey. Finally, he graduated in 1965 from Louisiana State University in New Orleans with a BA in Psychology.

On August 17, 1965, Rob married his teenage sweetheart Arleen Rolling of Metairie, LA. They went on to have Laura Roane in 1972 and Keith Clayon in 1973, who have been adored by their dad ever since, and made his life so joyous. He had six grandchildren, Jonathan, Ryan, Emily, Mason, Madeline and Mia and three great grandchildren, Harper, Donny and Theodore, who have all been very precious to him. Rob was always a totally committed and involved family man.

Rob had a professional career as a health statistician, first with the National Center for Health Statistics in Washington, DC, then with the US Virgin Islands Health Department and finally with the Arizona State Compensation Fund in Phoenix. He was a current member of Mensa and a past member of the American Public Health Association and the American Statistical Association.

In 1998, Rob met and later married his beautiful soul mate Judith Elaine Parker Kanaster on March 2, 2002. They traveled extensively to all seven continents and had many wonderful adventures together.

Rob loved working on his own genealogy and volunteering to create family trees for many friends and associates, which highlights his absolute generosity. Along all of his travels and throughout his life, he had never met a stranger.