Vivienne Williams was born Feb. 7, 1918, in a one-room house in rural Whatcom County, a birth attended by a doctor who had arrived on horseback.
She spent her childhood on Samish Island, Bellingham, and rural Whatcom County, where she attended Harmony High School and graduated as salutatorian in 1935.
A mother of three, Williams worked outside the home most of her adult life, doing general office work and bookkeeping for a variety of Bellingham businesses. Her last employer was Union Printing, where she was hired as the company’s first female outside sales representative. Her territory encompassed the San Juan Islands. She was involved in volunteer work for the March of Dimes fashion shows, the DARE association, Chamber of Commerce, and as Bellingham Blossom Time Festival queen’s court chaperone.
While working for Union Printing, she met Harold K. “Bud” Williams, a business competitor. Years later, they were living in the same senior complex and married in 1990. They moved from Bellingham to Vancouver 20 years ago to be near family. Bud died in 2007. Vivienne has outlived four husbands.
