- Date Of Birth: August 26, 1935
- Date Of Death: April 24, 2017
- State: Arizona
E R Williams, Jr.
If you are reading this document I will have passed away. My name was E R Williams, Jr. and I was born on August 26, 1935 in Decatur, Texas. I was the only child of E R Williams and Louise (Strange) Williams both Texas natives. Having initials only for a first name turned out to be a hassle in life and if I had understood the problem I probably would have changed my name as a young man. My grandfather was named Edward Raymond and this would have been a simple and straightforward name change while maintaining my initials.
My Father was a District Manager for Texas Power and Light and his Company moved my family several times while I was growing up from Decatur to Weatherford to Ennis to Palestine where I finished High School in 1953. While in Weatherford I was Baptized in the Baptist Church and taught John 3:16 “that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life.” Like our founding father, Thomas Payne, I don’t know if there is a heaven but I hope so.
After graduating from High School I enrolled in The University of Texas in Austin and graduated with a BS in Electrical Engineering in 1958. Although I was not a good student my time at the University was rewarding and I enjoyed some exciting times on the 4X100 team that won at the Texas Relays in Austin and I had the best time for a freshmen in the Nation in the same event at Texas A&M.
Following graduation I was fortunate to get a job offer from Texas Instruments and an occupational deferment from the draft. Texas Instruments was my first choice of Companies to work for and I considered Dallas the most desirable location in Texas. Bell Labs had invented semiconductors less than ten years before and TI led this new growth industry with the invention of silicon transistors. There was a lot of opportunity to work on exciting projects and my work lead to a patent for “Encapsulation of Semiconductors in Plastic.” This turned out to be an important patent for TI with the growth of integrated circuits, which were also encapsulated in plastic.
Opportunity knocked with a phone call and a job offer from Motorola in Phoenix Arizona in 1966. By this time I had nearly completed a Master Degree in Industrial Engineering but the job was for an Engineering Management position that I dearly wanted and a commensurate income so I moved to Arizona.
While working in Dallas at Texas Instruments I had met and married Gwen Gage a Highland Park and SMU graduate. We had one son Gage Williams born in 1962. When my wife and I separated in 1972 I decided to make a fresh start in my personal life by taking a job as Plant Manager for a small subsidiary of Motorola in Puerto Rico.
When my tour ended in Puerto Rico with Motorola they offered me a job in Japan but I jumped ship and ended up working for Fairchild Camera in Mountain View California in 1975. It was an exciting time working in consumer electronics manufacturing LED watches and video games. While in California I met and later married Patricia Cartwright in 1977. Pat is a California native and Graduate of California State Polytechnic University in SLO.
I returned to Motorola in Scottsdale Arizona in 1977 and Pat settled into Digital Equipment Corporation. Our daughter Erin Rachel Williams was born in Scottsdale in 1985 and our life changed. I was apprehensive about becoming a Father at fifty but it has been the best time of my life.
The last ten years at Motorola I worked on their Iridium Program. We designed, built, and launched sixty- six satellites plus spares for a satellite based cellular telephone system. It was a dream program for an engineer but was not commercially successful.
After forty years in the electronics industry I retired in 1998.
Looking back on my life it was an exciting time to be working in the electronic industry and I was fortunate to have loving parents. I cherish the love I share with my wife Pat and my children Gage and Erin.
