Grace Williams Obituary

Grace Ann Williams passed away peacefully at home following a two-year battle with ovarian cancer. A beloved wife, mother, grandmother and great grandmother, she was loved and will be missed by so many. Grace Ann Anzalone was born and raised in Pittston, Pennsylvania, the ninth of ten children of Vincenzo and Grace (Archadipane) Anzalone, from San Cataldo, Sicily. After graduating from Saint Ann's academy in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, Grace accepted her brother's invitation to visit Sacramento for school, work and to volunteer at Saint Mary Catholic Parish where her brother was pastor. During that visit, Grace met and fell in love with her future husband, Joseph Williams, and on July 7, 1956, they were married in Sacramento beginning a happy, productive 67-year journey together. Her first two years of that journey were spent in Fort Sill, Oklahoma, where Joe was serving in the Army. There her first two children, Sharon and Ken were born. They then moved back to California where her son Ron was born. Eleven years later Grace moved with her family to New Jersey where Joe began work with a pharmaceutical company. There she worked for the township of Caldwell and continued her volunteering for the church and civic organizations. After 25 years in New Jersey Joe retired and the family moved back to Sacramento. Grace never stopped helping others and when settled in Sacramento volunteered for The Society of St. Vincent de Paul, Sacramento Food Bank, St. Joseph's Parish Charities, over 20 years with the Mercy Guild and once again for Saint Mary Parish. She enjoyed seeing new things and spent many happy days traveling throughout Europe, and from the Giant's Causeway in Ireland and the Alps in Switzerland to the shops of Hong Kong to the beaches of Bali and Australia. For the past 35 years she and Joe spent the first two weeks of every February with family and friends on the beaches of Aruba. Grace is survived by her husband Joe, daughter Sharon Ann Skordos, son Kenneth James Williams, son Ronald George Williams, eight grandchildren and three great grandchildren. She was preceded in death by parents Vincenzo and Grace Anzalone, her brothers Jim, Ky, Ange, Tony, John, Fr. Sam, and Joe and her sisters, Catherine Fusco and Josephine Klimek. There will be a rosary at 5:00PM on September 18th at Gormley Funeral Home 2015 Capitol Avenue and a Funeral Mass at 11:30AM on September 19th at Saint Mary Church 1333 58th Street, Sacramento. Burial will be at St. Mary's Cemetery, 6509 Fruitridge Road, Sacramento. To send a flower arrangement or to plant trees in memory of Grace Ann Williams, please click here to visit our Sympathy Store.