Obituary of Gerald Joseph Williams

Gerald Joseph Williams

Born: 1932

Died: 2021

Denville – Gerald Joseph Williams passed away on Monday, October 18, 2021 in Denville, NJ.

Beloved husband and father Jerry Williams was born in 1932 in Delton, Wisconsin, and spent his childhood in Milwaukee and Cornell, Wisconsin. His life was one of service, kindness, and compassion for others. At the age of 15 he was called to a vocation with the Oblates of Mary Immaculate at Our Lady of the Ozarks Seminary in Carthage, Missouri. He eventually studied in Rome, receiving his Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy at the Angelicum. His life took a turn after his studies there, when he left the seminary and studied at The Catholic University of America in Washington, DC, earning a Master’s Degree in Educational Guidance. There he met his beloved wife Ann, whom he married in 1956. He served in the United States Army in Germany for two years and returned to the U.S. to begin a decades-long career in the Bell System, first in West Virginia and then in New York and New Jersey.

Jerry was a lifelong scholar, studying for and receiving his Master’s degree in Philosophy and, in 1984, his Ph.D in Philosophy from New York University. He published two texts: A Short Introduction to Ethics and Ethics in Modern Management. He taught philosophy and ethics as an adjunct at Kean College and Seton Hall University. He was a tireless advocate and helper to the poor and infirm, serving as a Eucharistic minister and assisting elderly veterans at the Lyons V.A. Hospital in Basking Ridge, New Jersey. He was known for his kind and loving spirit, and for his generosity with his time and efforts.

With his wife Ann, Jerry moved to Denville in 2004. Ann predeceased Jerry in 2018. Jerry is survived by his children Stephen (Carole) Williams, Helen (Philip) Zubaly, Mary Ann (James) Wisecup, John (Heather) Williams, and Kathleen (James) Gilbert, grandchildren Sean Williams, Mary Alice Williams, Gregory Gilbert, Eve Gilbert, Mark Zubaly, Calvin Zubaly, and his sisters Patricia Flynn and Mary Knoepke, as well as his brothers Lawrence Williams, Kenneth Williams, and James Williams. He was also predeceased by his infant daughter Mary Helen, his parents Ellen Williams and John Colbert Williams, and his brother John R. Williams.

A Mass in Jerry’s memory will be held on Saturday, December 4^th at 10:00 am, at St. Mary’s Catholic Church, 15 Myers Avenue, Denville, NJ. Burial of ashes to follow at Holy Rood Cemetery, 61 Whippany Road, Morristown, NJ 07960.

For those who are unable to be with us on December 4th, Jerry's Mass will be livestreamed. 

This link will be active a few moments before 10 am that morning.