On Saturday, Feb. 5, more than 200 people assembled at the Orcas Senior Center to honor and pay respect to Dr. Stan Williams.
“Dr. Stan” left his life on earth at Spokane on Sunday, Jan. 16.
The people who came to this special event told many stories about their love and respect for Stan’s service to our community and to the medical profession. These stories had a common theme about his compassion, common sense, humor and most of all his “connections.”
Dr. Stan was “connected” to the community and gave equal attention to the rich and the poor. He did not discriminate about race, gender, age or length of your hair. Dr. Stan was a man of constant integrity and evoked perpetual trust.He was a character and knew that all of us are also characters.
Dr. Stan demanded that we open our hearts to serve other people and that we open our hearts to love other people. Dr. Stan was “connected” to compassion.
He was ready to admit that there were many aspects of life and medicine that he did not understand. In response, Dr. Stan was “connected” with hundreds, perhaps thousands of other physicians in the Pacific Northwest. He had the mental capacity to recall from his mind (not a computer) several highly qualified specialists to respond to any medical issue. Dr. Stan suppressed his ego and self importance so he could serve all of us.
Dr. Stan was “connected” to all topics of our lives. You name a subject and he had some knowledge, some wisdom and some ideas to educate us and challenge us. He was an intellectual genius.
Thank you, Dr. Stan and to your family, as your legacy and your service has inspired others to follow in your path to service of your community, your island and your profession.
Tom Ritter
Orcas Island