PHOTO BY CLARE JENSEN

A memorial breakfast was shared April 20 in honor of Robert Williams, Puyallup Tribal elder and Navy veteran, who passed away in Indiana on March 25. Two of Robert Williams’ daughters traveled across the country to scatter his ashes in the sea near Whidbey Island, a place he developed a strong connection to over his lifetime.

Tribal elder, veteran remembered

By Clare Jensen

A Puyallup Tribal elder and longtime Navy serviceman died March 25 at the age of 61 following a yearlong illness.

Robert Williams spent 21 years in the U.S. Navy, retiring as a Senior Chief Petty Officer, and in that time he developed a strong affinity for the ocean – especially the Western Washington coast.

“He went out of his way to be stationed there [at Whidbey Island],” said his son Keith Williams. “We grew up there, our younger sisters were born there. There were lots of places to roam and be an Indian.”

Robert Williams spent the last 20 years of his life far away from the coast in Indiana, but made a point to visit the shores of his favorite island often.

“We came out here every summer,” said his daughter Heather Staggs, who was raised in Indiana. “It was tradition.”

His sister, Geneva Williams-Marshall, who lives in Spokane, noted that every time he made a trip west to visit, he always had to visit the ocean in order to regroup.

In honor of their father’s travel habits, youngest daughters Heather Staggs and Amy Williams took one last trip with their father from their home in Indiana to his final resting place, more than 2,000 miles away to a shore Robert Williams had visited often.

With the remains of their beloved father securely fastened in the back seat, the sisters drove to Whidbey Island to turn their father over to his beloved ocean.

“It’s good to know we can do this for him. It’s what he wanted. He was a well appreciated man and a great father,” Amy Williams said.

On the way to the island, the sisters made a stop at the Puyallup reservation April 20 to gather with family and friends of Robert Williams, including his oldest daughter Stacy Roberts, brother Daniel Williams and other relatives.

“I think it’s great,” Geneva Williams-Marshall said. “Out of the three of us (siblings) he was the most attached to the Tribe.”

A breakfast, prayers, memories and tears were shared that morning during Robert Williams’ final trip to the West Coast. He will be missed dearly by those who knew him, and always remembered for serving his country.

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