Edelweiss H. Williams' Obituary
Edelweiss H. Williams
Edelweiss “Sunny” Williams, 98, of San Jose, CA passed away in her sleep on 1/21/21 just 12 days shy of her 99th birthday.
Edelweiss was born at home in 1922 to Paul and Emma Calais in the small town of Odessa, MN. She was the fourth child of 11 children and although growing up poor during the Great Depression, everyone who knew her called her “Sunny,” not only for her smile and laugh but also due to her uncanny ability to always see the bright side of the most dire of situations. She maintained that joyous disposition to the end.
At the age of 17, she moved to San Francisco to live with her half-sister, Laura. Soon most all her other siblings, including her mother, followed suit moving to the Bay Area of California during the 1940s. Three years later Sunny met her husband, William Robert “Bob” Williams, whom she married after knowing four months. Together they’d have 5 children: Douglas, Stephen, Jana, William, and David.
In 1972 Sunny and Bob moved from Pacifica, CA to San Jose to start a new business at the Pruneyard in Campbell called, Edelweiss Candies. There she worked the long hours to run a successful business making candy, doing the books, and waiting on customers.
After retiring in 1990 from the candy business, Sunny spent most of her time being active at Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran Church in the LWML, periodically teaching Sunday School, and trying to keep up with her prolific plum and orange trees in the backyard. While in her mid 80’s she stunned her family by single-handedly remodeling her home laying new flooring, painting the walls, putting in crown molding and landscaping. She was truly an amazing woman ahead of her time.
Sunny was predeceased by her parents, her husband Bob, her son Andre Calais, her son-in-law Scott Krause, her grandchild Cassia and her son Douglas, and all of her Calais siblings: Harold, Laura Longpre, Walter, Violet Volgelbacher, Rose Stone, Mike, Eugene, Lawrence, Daisy Reed, and Franklin Calais.
She is survived by her son Stephen and his wife Nancy (Tracy, CA), daughter-in-law Mary Williams (Lincoln, CA), daughter Jana Krause who lovingly took care of her in her later years (San Jose, CA), son Bill and his wife Valerie (Windsor, CA), son David and his wife Michelle (Folsom, CA) as well as her grandchildren, Mark, Krista, Stephen, Jonathan, Amber Ferl, Zachary, Zane, Payton and Kylie Williams as well as her great-grandchildren Conor, Mia, Zoe, Hudson and Presley.
A graveside ceremony will be held at Skylawn Memorial Park, Hwy 92 at Skyline Blvd, San Mateo, on February 2nd at noon. A virtual Celebration of Life Service will be held via Zoom on Sunday, February 28th at 3:00 PM.
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Share a story where Edelweiss' kindness touched your heart.
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