2016 SENATE MEMORIAL 16-002 BY SENATOR(S) Tate, Aguilar, Carroll, Cooke, Crowder, Donovan, Garcia, Grantham, Guzman, Heath, Hill, Holbert, Jahn, Johnston, Jones, Kefalas, Kerr, Lambert, Lundberg, Marble, Martinez Humenik, Merrifield, Neville T., Newell, Roberts, Scheffel, Todd, Ulibarri, Woods, Cadman. MEMORIALIZING FORMER SENATOR CARL MICHAEL WILLIAMS. WHEREAS, Our respected former colleague, Carl Michael Williams, a past member of the Colorado State Senate, departed this life on November 27, 2015, at the age of 87; and WHEREAS, The fourth son of a prominent ranching family, Senator Williams was born on Friday, November 9, 1928, to the late John Walter and Eleanor (Powers) Williams in Douglas, Wyoming; and WHEREAS, Senator Williams was raised and educated in Douglas, graduating from Converse County High School where he went on to attend the University of Wyoming, graduated from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, and later received his Juris Doctor from the University of Wyoming; and WHEREAS, During the Korean Conflict, Senator Williams enrolled with the Wyoming Air National Guard serving from September 14, 1950, to March 31, 1951; and WHEREAS, Senator Williams was called to active duty in the United States Air Force, serving from April 1, 1951, to December 31, 1952, where he flew both the famed P-51 Mustang and America's first jet fighter, the F-80 Shooting Star, thus beginning his lifelong love and passion for aviation; and WHEREAS, In 1957, Senator Williams fell in love with Ginny Williams, a fiery Virginia school teacher who came West to make her mark in the world, and moved to Denver and had two children, Elle and Mike; and WHEREAS, Also in that year, after practicing law for fewer than four months, Senator Williams partnered with cable legend Bill Daniels and became one of the founding fathers of America's budding cable television industry; and WHEREAS, After branching out on his own in the early 1960s, Senator Williams went on to build Televents, Inc., with systems throughout Wyoming, Colorado, California, Montana, Pennsylvania, and Florida, and he eventually sold Televents, Inc., in 1986 to friend and fellow Coloradan Bob Magness, making it part of Tele-Communication, Inc., better known as TCI, which went on to become the largest cable TV provider in the United States; and WHEREAS, While building Televents, Inc., Senator Williams was elected to the Colorado State Senate in 1968 where he served as the Chairman of the State Senate Affairs Committee and later went on to serve as Chairman of the Colorado Republican Party from 1975 to 1977, providing leadership and resolve in uncertain times, and remaining active in state and national politics for the rest of his life; and WHEREAS, A tireless philanthropist, Senator Williams actively pursued and fought for the advancement of ethics and values in education, which lead him to establish and fund programs including the Carl M. Williams Chair for Ethics at the University of Wyoming and the Carl M. Williams Institute of Ethics and Values at the University of Denver; and WHEREAS, Always an advocate for higher education, Senator Williams generously provided college tuition for a myriad of young people, and assisted in providing funds for a skywalk between the Douglas Senior Citizens Center and Riverside Plaza apartments, a wood floor at the Douglas High School Gymnasium, donating to capital construction at Memorial Hospital of Converse County, and many other endeavors in his beloved home of Douglas, Wyoming; and WHEREAS, In 1989, Senator Williams founded the Foundation for Drug Education and served on numerous educational, artistic, medical, and legal boards of directors during the years; and WHEREAS, Among the many charities that were dear to him were the Wings Over the Rockies Air and Space Museum, from which he received a lifetime achievement award in 2004, the Arthritis Foundation, the Greenway Foundation, the Episcopal Church, and the Colorado Symphony; and WHEREAS, In 1997, Senator Williams was inducted into the Colorado Aviation Hall of Fame; and WHEREAS, Senator Williams' deep-rooted passion for biplanes could be traced back to his father, who owned an Alexander Eaglerock, a plane manufactured in Colorado Springs. So beloved was the Eaglerock to Senator Williams that he restored not one but two examples, the first of which is on permanent display in Concourse B at Denver International Airport, and the second at Wings Over the Rockies' new Centennial Airport facility; and WHEREAS, Even during retirement, Senator Williams, well into his seventies, continued to pursue his love of aviation, competing at the intermediate level in national and aerobatic competitions flying the legendary Pitts Special Biplane; and WHEREAS, The most important things in life to Senator Williams, and the three things that always rose to the surface with him, were civic responsibility, family, and faith; and WHEREAS, It is fitting that we, the members of the Colorado State Senate, pay tribute to the dedicated service of Senator Williams and express our deep regret and sorrow occasioned by his death; now, therefore, Be It Resolved by the Senate of the Seventieth General Assembly of the State of Colorado: That, in the death of Carl Michael Williams, the people of the state of Colorado have lost a dedicated public servant and outstanding citizen, and that we, the members of the Colorado State Senate of the Seventieth General Assembly, do hereby extend our deep and heartfelt sympathy to the members of his family and pay tribute to a man who served the state well and faithfully. Be It Further Resolved, That copies of this Memorial be sent to Senator Williams' wife Ginny Williams, his daughter Elle P. Williams, and son Mike Williams. ____________________________ ____________________________ Bill L. Cadman Effie Ameen PRESIDENT OF SECRETARY OF THE SENATE THE SENATE