Obituary of Betty Leah Williams

Betty Leah Williams, 88 of Iowa City died surrounded by her loving family on Sunday, September 9, 2007, following a life filled with a beautiful smile and many friends. Funeral services will be held at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, September 12, 2007, at Gay & Ciha Funeral and Cremation Service with the Reverends Nancy English and Jerry Stevenson officiating. Burial will be at Memory Gardens Cemetery in Iowa City. Visitation will be from 4 to 7pm Tuesday at the funeral home. In lieu of flowers memorial donations can be made in Betty’s memory to First Welsh Congregational Church, the Lea Williams Hedges Scholarship Fund at St. Olaf College or the Relay for Life of Johnson County through the American Cancer Society at 4080 1st Ave NE, Cedar Rapids, IA. Online condolences may be sent for her family through the web at www.gayandciha.com. Betty Leah Puckett was born January 15, 1919, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa the daughter of Ralph and Iona (Maggard) Puckett. She attended Washington High School in Cedar Rapids before moving to Iowa City with her family prior to the start of her junior year at City High School. There she became one of the first female cheerleaders in 1935. Following graduation from high school she attended the State University of Iowa where she was a member of Delta Gamma sorority, as was her mother before her and her granddaughter, Leslie, since her. Betty’s grandfather, J.H. Maggard helped bring the Olin Kelly Farm Machinery Factory to Iowa City located along Sheridan Street in 1899, where he became the factory’s general manager. He then brought together a group of investors in the Iowa City Street Car Company linking downtown Iowa City with the Rundell street development group. Betty was a lifelong Chicago Cubs fan, as her brother, Bert “Wilson” Puckett, left WMT radio to become the radio voice of the Chicago Cubs in the 1940’s until 1955. A four year courtship to Herbert Stevens Williams culminated with marriage on July 9, 1939. The couple began their marriage 68 years ago on the Heritage Farm located on Black Diamond Road southwest of Iowa City in 1939. They lived here until 2004 when they moved to Melrose Meadows in Iowa City. Her family includes her husband, Herbert; sons, Robert Williams and his wife, Peg of Charleston, SC; and Ed Williams of Iowa City; daughter-in-law, Linda Williams of Iowa City; brothers and sisters-in-law, Mary Puckett of Mesa, AZ; Ray and Linda Williams, and Carralee and Jim Sueppel all of Iowa City; grandchildren, Kim Williams and her husband, John; Dana Simcox and her husband, Damian; Leslie Finer and her husband, Tim; A.J. Mize; and Don Hedges; great-grandchildren, Brandon, Ben, Sarah and Beckah Williams, McKenna and Brady Simcox; Ashley, Lexie, Riley, and Jack Finer; and Jake and Chelsea Mize; nieces, Diane Sweeney, Shirley Kobat, Nancy Buchanan, and Betty McVey. She was preceded in death by her parents, brother, Bert “Wilson” Puckett; sister, Lois Korman, and granddaughter, Lea Williams Hedges. Gay & Ciha Funeral and Cremation Service along with the Peterseim Funeral Home of Kalona is caring for Betty’s family and her services.