Cypress Lakes' Pat Williams remembered

  • Published
  • By Nick DeCicco
  • 60th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs
TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  An empty beer mug, white adjustable hat and gold coin sat at Pat Williams' customary poker night seat May 13, the chair he sat in to play cards for nearly four years.

Mr. Williams' co-workers at Travis' Cypress Lakes Golf Course left the seat empty during the evening's weekly Texas Hold'em competition in memory of their late friend.

Mr. Williams, the course's assistant manager, died May 11 from complications from a brain aneurysm. He was 51.

Though the retired Coastguardsman was instrumental in launching the Hold'em contests, which he won on three occasions, his true passion was what brought him to the course in the first place -- golf.

"He played golf every day. Every day," said Stan Lykins, the course's administrative assistant. "That's why he worked here."

Mr. Williams was playing the Cypress Lakes course May 3 when he suffered an aneurysm, falling out of the golf cart on the fairway of the No. 1 hole after complaining of a headache.

"We figure he died doing what he loved to do," said Mike Cunningham, Cypress Lakes' project engineer.

Friendly yet competitive, his supervisor, golf course manager Gary Puckett, will remember his "bubbling personality." He described his colleague's death as surreal.

"Pat lived for this place," Mr. Puckett said in reference to the course. "He always wanted it to do better. He'd do anything for the place."

Mr. Williams worked at Cypress Lakes for more than eight years, but didn't become the assistant manager until more than two years ago. His duties included everything from organizing and managing tournaments to working in the pro shop.

But those tasks rarely stopped him from getting in a round of golf. Misters Lykins and Cunningham as well as golf pro Terry Boren traveled Northern California playing 18 holes together.

"He should have been Pat 'Golf' Williams," Mr. Lykins said. "He played every course in Northern California. Every course. I know because I've been there with him. I know he's been there."

At the poker table and on the golf course were two places where Mr. Williams' competitive fire burned brightest.

"You could have him down six strokes and he knew he could beat you. Sometimes he wouldn't but most of the time he would," Mr. Cunningham said. "He was always fun."

In addition to poker and golf, Mr. Williams was a musician, playing drums with Mr. Boren and several friends in a band recently re-named the Fore Fathers. Mr. Boren said their last gig together came during the visit for the LeMay Award inspection, when the group played a humorous song about bad golfing pin placements.

"I don't think he ever sounded better," he said. "He'll be sorely missed. Those kind of guys are few and far between."

Mr. Williams is survived by his wife, Sue, and his daughter, Ashley.

On Tuesday afternoon, before the poker tournament, the staff felt Mr. Williams' absence, picking up his duties and working hard to cover his regular workload.

But mostly, the staff members just missed their friend.

"It's like a fog, wandering around and you don't know what's going on. I keep waiting for him to come in," Mr. Puckett said. "It's not going to be the same."