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Male, born 1930-12-28, died 2013-12-29
Associated with the firm network
Résumé
Service, US Marine Corps, c. 1950.
Staff Architect, Paul Thiry, FAIA, Architect, Seattle, WA, c. 1961-1964. Williams worked on the University of Washington Master Plan and the Seattle World's Fair design while in Thiry's office.
Supervising Architect/Job Captain, Fred Bassetti and Company, Architects, Seattle, WA, c. 1965-1966; in the Bassetti office, Williams served as the Supervising Architect for the KGW Radio and Television Building, and Job Captain for the Seattle Electric East Pine Substation (1965-1967).
Staff Architect/Partner, Bridges-Burke Architects, Seattle, WA, 1966- ; Williams became a Partner with Bridges-Burke in 01/1969. (See "Architect Advances to Partnership," Seattle Times, 01/05/1969, p. 2C.)
Williams transitioned into public service during the 1960s, taking on the role of the first President of the Wallingford Community Council, a Seattle neighborhood advisory board. He got into politics in 1969, being appointed to the Washington State House of Representatives from the 32nd District. He served this constituency for three terms and ran for an additional four terms in the State Senate. During his political career, Williams focused on energy policy and became Chair of the Seante's Energy and Utilities Committee. He retired from the Senate in 1994.
Professional Activities
Founding Member/President, Wallingford Community Council, Wallingford, Seattle, WA. Williams was President of the Wallingford Community Council in 1969. Williams was active in the Forward Thrust initiative and the Seattle Citizens Initiative Planning Council in the late 1960s.
Member, Ballard Avenue Historic District Board, Ballard, Seattle, WA.
Member, City of Seattle, Design Commission, Seattle, WA.
High School/College
Graduate, Olympia High School, Olympia, WA, 1948.
Coursework, Saint Martin's College, Olympia, WA.
B.Arch., University of Washington, Seattle (UW), Seattle, WA, c. 1956-1959. A remarkable sketch of Jules Hardouin-Mansart's Église du Dôme(1708) was included in the works of Grade IV students of the UW College of Architecture's 1958-1959 Yearbook (n.p.). A Modern residence designed and erected in the summer of 1958 by five students, Williams included, was also shown in this yearbook. (The others included Larry Erickson, Bryant Milliman, Robert Shamler and Paul Thienes.)
College Awards
Williams graduated with honors from the UW.
Relocation
Born in Beach, ND, Alvin Williams lived with a cousin, Signe Theodora Fosjord (born c. 1920 in ND), in Beach, ND according to the 1940 US Census. He and a brother resided with Signe, a housekeeper, and her three younger sisters at the time.
He moved to Olympia, WA, where he spent some of his childhood. When he married at age 25, Williams listed a residence place in Olympia. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Washington State Archives; Olympia, Washington, accessed 08/30/2018.)
He had two addresses in the mid-1990s, one in Olympia at 526 18th Avenue SE, and one in Seattle's Fremont neighborhood, at 4801 Fremont Avenue North.
After his death, he was cremated and his ashes inurned at Forest Memorial Gardens in Olympia, WA.
Parents
His father was Nolan Chester Williams (born c. 1894 in WI), his mother, and Gudrun Fosjord (born 09/23/1907 in Roberts County, SD-d. 04/15/1984 in Olympia, WA). Nolan was a farmer in Township 135 of Slope County, ND, in 1930, according to the US Census of that year. He was 14 years older than his wife. Gudrun's parents were John H. and Annie HemmestvettFosjord.
Alvin had a brother, John, (born c. 1934 in ND).
Gudrun Williams remarried Marvin Milligan at Billiangs, MT, on 12/02/1945.
Spouse
He married Elizabeth Ann Pearson on 08/17/1956 in Olympia, WA. She worked as a typist in Olympia, when she married at age 22. Her husband, aged 25, was a student at the time. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Washington State Archives; Olympia, Washington, accessed 08/30/2018.) He filed for divorce from her on 09/23/1974.
He wed Leslie Ariadne Scott on 12/23/1974 in Seattle, WA. He was 44 and she, 28. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Washington State Archives; Olympia, Washington; Reference Number: kingcoarchmc396637, accessed 08/30/2018.)
Children
He and Elizabeth had three children: Erin Williams Blitz, who lived in Charleston, IL, at the time of his death; Brock Williams of Seattle in 2013; and Hilary Williams Salkind of Bellevue, WA, (2013).
PCAD id: 7055
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