Beth Lavern Williams

On August 19th, 1927, Dr. Brown, the family doctor, delivered a baby girl at the farm home of Edna and Emereth Wray, nine miles outside the town of Norton, Kansas. They named her Beth Lavern. She grew up in that same house, went to country schools, and experienced the dust bowl years and the depression years there. Two brothers, Duane and Jerald, joined the family, Duane when she was two, Jerald when the depression was over and she was 12.


She graduated from Norton Community High School in 1945, but not before marrying, Eugene Williams on November 8th, 1944, three days before he left for an army base on the east coast. He shipped out of New York, heading for England, on December 24,1944. She finished high school, then moved to Ogalalla, Nebraska to live with her paternal grandparents and work in a factory that made condensers used in bombs, including the atomic bombs that ended the war.


Gene returned to the states on August 19th, her birthday. He was expected to be home for a short time before being sent to serve in the Pacific Theater, but Japan surrendered before that happened. Beth was greatly relieved. She joined him in New Jersey and worked for the Civil Service until he was discharged in July of 1946. During that time she made 90 cents an hour while the army paid him 9 cents an hour.


From New Jersey they moved to Stockton, KS. Under the GI Bill, Gene learned clock repair and started working for a local tradesman. In just a few months, they opened the first Williams Jewelers store. Anyone who knew Beth knows that she was very much a part of the business team from the very beginning. It was a standard small town jewelry store, selling flatware, watches, engagement sets, etc. In those days, watch repair was a big part of the business, so they both learned watch repair "by hook or by crook," as they said, and learned the fine points from other watchmakers at association meetings. Beth was one of the first woman watch makers in the country. They studied gemology and soon became known for their knowledge of precious stones. Before they left Kansas, they sold a medium blue, one carat diamond, one that would be valued in the mid-six figures today. They probably called their parents to brag that night.


As the store prospered, they built a house, and then had two sons, Bruce in 1950 and Steve in 1953. Eventually they realized they aspired to more than a small town in Kansas could offer them and their sons, so in 1957 they sold that store and moved to Colorado. They both loved the mountains and fishing. They drove back roads and trails in a jeep, scaring relatives and friends they had enticed into going along. They both loved fishing in Colorado streams and eventually bought a boat so they could add lakes to their fishing grounds. Early on they built a small camper on the back of a pickup, so they could camp and fish in more comfort.


For several years after moving to Denver they supported themselves doing contract watch repair, then in the fall of 1969 found the right place and opened Williams Jewelers of Brookridge. By the time they retired in 1990, they had transformed that store into one of the finest jewelry stores in Denver. Their business sense seems to have rubbed off - Bruce and Suzanne now own Williams Jewelers at Cherry Creek and Steven and Diane own Williams Jewelers at Brookridge.


During those years Bruce and Steve both married, and the family grew to include grandchildren Michelle, Shaina, Shoshana, Brandon, Evan and Dylan and great grandchild Haidan .


After they retired, they traveled more, buying a motor home and going to the mountains for days or weeks at a time, or heading to a warmer climate for a couple of months in the winter.


Life was more difficult and certainly more lonely for Beth after Gene died in October of 1997, after almost 53 years of marriage, but she maintained an interest in the stores, played bridge often, enjoyed her grandchildren and great grandchild, and traveled with her brother Jerald and with Steve and Diane.


She lived in the house she and Gene had built until she moved to Littleton Life Care this past summer. Except for a short period of time at home, she was there until she passed away on December 11, 2006.


She is survived by her sons, two brothers, Duane and Jerald, a brother-in-law, Lester, six grandchildren, one great grandchild, and a number of nieces and nephews.