In the early morning, January 31st, 2023, while surrounded by his wife and children, Kay Don Williams peacefully left this world and entered the presence of the Lord.

1. Don was born on October 21, 1932, to the late Clarence and Gladys (Norton) Williams in East Gary (now Lake Station), IN. Born at the height of the Great Depression, his first memories were of a loving family facing hardship, and with his late sister, Vera, having to cut new soles out of cardboard for their shoes every time it rained.

During his early years he developed a love for music and dance. He played tenor saxophone in the Edison High School band and traveled to Chicago to take tap lessons from the late Tommy Sutton, with whom he maintained a lifelong friendship.

Upon graduation in 1950 K. Don decided to pursue professional music and enrolled at Indiana University to earn a music degree. At that time, sax was not an option as principal instrument, so he chose clarinet, which he quickly realized wasn’t his jazz.  In 1954, he paused his educational pursuits and joined the United States Air Force as an Airman. Serving during the Korean war, he was a photographer working regularly on confidential and secret assignments in arial reconnaissance and cartography.

After his Honorable Discharge in 1958 he worked at both U.S. Steel and the camera department at Montgomery Ward in Gary, where in 1960 he met the woman who would one day be his wife. Jean Wardrop walked in as “Miss Polaroid” and asked K. Don for a model 800 to use for her demo. He didn’t have that model and gave her a J66, which she said she didn’t know how to use. He then wooed her with the words, “how does Miss Polaroid not know how to use a J 66?” Fortunately, Jean’s dad walked in and saved the day. He bowled with K. Don and told her what a kind man he was. They began dating shortly after.

1969. Don and Jean tied knot on May 17, 1969. And life sped up. In 1970 they welcomed Donny into the family, and a 1972, Laura. K. Don completed his degree in Computer Science at Purdue Calumet in 1972 and began his career with Pullman Standard as a programmer working on their mainframe computers. His profession then took him to Santa Fe Railroad working in systems analysis and design and later retiring from Acme Steel in 1997.

While Reams of continuous green bar paper were common in the Williams household, K. Don’s real passions were his family, tap dancing and hosting his cable TV show. He taught tap through the 70s, 80s and 90s at Portage Conservatory, and at conferences throughout the Midwest. You could catch K. Don dancing everywhere – in the grocery stores, department stores, restaurants, with the family on vacations, and even with his walker up until the months before his death. He was a founding member of MUNCAB (Munster Cable) and served on the town committee while hosting “This Week in Munster” through the 80s and 90s.

1. Don was an active member of Ridge United Methodist Church in the 70s to the 90s, and the Munster Lions in the 90s and 2000s, where he served as Program Director.  Throughout his life he was known for his kindness, the twinkling in his eye, his bad puns and wit, and his love and passion for his family.

He is survived by his wife of 53 years Thelma Jean (Wardrop) Williams, his son Donald (Mary) Williams, his daughter Laura Williams, his beloved four grandchildren Piper Ramback, Kaden Ramback, Nola Williams and Samuel Williams, and several nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents Clarence and Gladys (Norton) Williams and sister Vera (Williams) Gilea.

Visitation will be held on Thursday, February 9, 2023, from 3pm – 7pm and Friday, February 10, 2023 from 11am-12pm at Kish Funeral Home, 10000 Calumet Avenue, Munster Indiana. The Funeral Service will be held at Kish Funeral Home at 12pm on Friday with Internment immediately following at Chapel Lawn Memorial Gardens at 1pm.

To send flowers to the family or place a tree in memory of Kay Don Williams, please visit our Tribute Store.