Brother Lee Williams
Longtime Los Gatan and resident of the Sacred Heart Jesuit Center, Brother Lee H. Williams, S.J. died March 14 of cancer at the age of 81.
Known to his friends as "Slim," Williams was born July 26, 1918, in Oakland. After attending Brown & Sharpe Tech School, he served in the U.S. Air Force for three years. In 1949, he entered what was then the Sacred Heart Novitiate in the hills above Los Gatos. Along with his duties as a Jesuit Brother, Williams served as a steam engineer, winemaker and cellar master over the approximately 30 years the Novitiate produced its own label of fine wines.
Trained as a machinist and carpenter, he was a great asset at the Novitiate, which was just completing installation of a high-pressure steam boiler and other wine-making facilities. Among Williams' teachers in the art of viticulture were the Rev. Jim Ransford and the Rev. Tom Terry.
According to the Rev. Tom Marshall, province archivist, Williams turned out to be the biggest investment the Jesuits ever made in their primarily altar wine-based business. Williams eventually revamped all processing, from the wine presses through the enhanced fermentation process.
The Sacred Heart Winery closed in 1985, at which time Williams, who was known to smoke a fragrant pipe now and then, dedicated more time to his Tennessee walking horse, Clancy, and his white Arabian, Rashon. He also worked in the wood shop, carving birds and other items.
"He was a man of dignity--tall, slim, untalkative but somehow the one with the word of wisdom as the occasion required," Marshall recalls.
Williams is survived by a sister and numerous nieces and nephews. Memorial services have been held, with interment at Santa Clara Mission Cemetery.
April 14, 1999 Los Gatos Weekly Times
Longtime Los Gatan and resident of the Sacred Heart Jesuit Center, Brother Lee H. Williams, S.J. died March 14 of cancer at the age of 81.
Known to his friends as "Slim," Williams was born July 26, 1918, in Oakland. After attending Brown & Sharpe Tech School, he served in the U.S. Air Force for three years. In 1949, he entered what was then the Sacred Heart Novitiate in the hills above Los Gatos. Along with his duties as a Jesuit Brother, Williams served as a steam engineer, winemaker and cellar master over the approximately 30 years the Novitiate produced its own label of fine wines.
Trained as a machinist and carpenter, he was a great asset at the Novitiate, which was just completing installation of a high-pressure steam boiler and other wine-making facilities. Among Williams' teachers in the art of viticulture were the Rev. Jim Ransford and the Rev. Tom Terry.
According to the Rev. Tom Marshall, province archivist, Williams turned out to be the biggest investment the Jesuits ever made in their primarily altar wine-based business. Williams eventually revamped all processing, from the wine presses through the enhanced fermentation process.
The Sacred Heart Winery closed in 1985, at which time Williams, who was known to smoke a fragrant pipe now and then, dedicated more time to his Tennessee walking horse, Clancy, and his white Arabian, Rashon. He also worked in the wood shop, carving birds and other items.
"He was a man of dignity--tall, slim, untalkative but somehow the one with the word of wisdom as the occasion required," Marshall recalls.
Williams is survived by a sister and numerous nieces and nephews. Memorial services have been held, with interment at Santa Clara Mission Cemetery.
April 14, 1999 Los Gatos Weekly Times
Brother Lee Williams
Longtime Los Gatan and resident of the Sacred Heart Jesuit Center, Brother Lee H. Williams, S.J. died March 14 of cancer at the age of 81.
Known to his friends as "Slim," Williams was born July 26, 1918, in Oakland. After attending Brown & Sharpe Tech School, he served in the U.S. Air Force for three years. In 1949, he entered what was then the Sacred Heart Novitiate in the hills above Los Gatos. Along with his duties as a Jesuit Brother, Williams served as a steam engineer, winemaker and cellar master over the approximately 30 years the Novitiate produced its own label of fine wines.
Trained as a machinist and carpenter, he was a great asset at the Novitiate, which was just completing installation of a high-pressure steam boiler and other wine-making facilities. Among Williams' teachers in the art of viticulture were the Rev. Jim Ransford and the Rev. Tom Terry.
According to the Rev. Tom Marshall, province archivist, Williams turned out to be the biggest investment the Jesuits ever made in their primarily altar wine-based business. Williams eventually revamped all processing, from the wine presses through the enhanced fermentation process.
The Sacred Heart Winery closed in 1985, at which time Williams, who was known to smoke a fragrant pipe now and then, dedicated more time to his Tennessee walking horse, Clancy, and his white Arabian, Rashon. He also worked in the wood shop, carving birds and other items.
"He was a man of dignity--tall, slim, untalkative but somehow the one with the word of wisdom as the occasion required," Marshall recalls.
Williams is survived by a sister and numerous nieces and nephews. Memorial services have been held, with interment at Santa Clara Mission Cemetery.
April 14, 1999 Los Gatos Weekly Times
Longtime Los Gatan and resident of the Sacred Heart Jesuit Center, Brother Lee H. Williams, S.J. died March 14 of cancer at the age of 81.
Known to his friends as "Slim," Williams was born July 26, 1918, in Oakland. After attending Brown & Sharpe Tech School, he served in the U.S. Air Force for three years. In 1949, he entered what was then the Sacred Heart Novitiate in the hills above Los Gatos. Along with his duties as a Jesuit Brother, Williams served as a steam engineer, winemaker and cellar master over the approximately 30 years the Novitiate produced its own label of fine wines.
Trained as a machinist and carpenter, he was a great asset at the Novitiate, which was just completing installation of a high-pressure steam boiler and other wine-making facilities. Among Williams' teachers in the art of viticulture were the Rev. Jim Ransford and the Rev. Tom Terry.
According to the Rev. Tom Marshall, province archivist, Williams turned out to be the biggest investment the Jesuits ever made in their primarily altar wine-based business. Williams eventually revamped all processing, from the wine presses through the enhanced fermentation process.
The Sacred Heart Winery closed in 1985, at which time Williams, who was known to smoke a fragrant pipe now and then, dedicated more time to his Tennessee walking horse, Clancy, and his white Arabian, Rashon. He also worked in the wood shop, carving birds and other items.
"He was a man of dignity--tall, slim, untalkative but somehow the one with the word of wisdom as the occasion required," Marshall recalls.
Williams is survived by a sister and numerous nieces and nephews. Memorial services have been held, with interment at Santa Clara Mission Cemetery.
April 14, 1999 Los Gatos Weekly Times
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