Rev. David Charles Williams, 83, of Oak Park, died on May 13, 2024. A Reformed Christian Theologian, he loved to teach the truth of scripture. Born in Chicago on March 4, 1941, he and his family moved to Oak Park in 1951. A proud Oak Park and River Forest High School alumnus (1959), he graduated from Millikin University and then attended the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, the University of North Wales, and the University of Oxford Harris Manchester College.
Following his ordination, he started his ministry in Pitcairn, Pennsylvania in 1967 at the Presbyterian Church of Pitcairn. In addition he helped organize the Philadelphia Conference of Reformed Theology with James Montgomery Boice.
In 1984, he moved back to Oak Park to be close to his family and continued to spread the word and teach. He started a small group Bible study which grew in numbers.
He always loved the city and enjoyed downtown Chicago where he became acquainted with a group of professionals who had started a PCA church that met in rented spaces in Chicago’s Lincoln Park. He became their pastor and in 1993 they purchased the former All Saints Cathedral in the Bucktown neighborhood where they remain today as Covenant Presbyterian Church. He retired from Covenant and was asked to assist and mentor young pastors in dealing with pastoral issues. He was then called to Westminster Presbyterian PCA Church and School in Elgin, IL where he served from 2007 to 2016.
When he retired again, he was asked by Covenant to support and encourage a plant church, Boulevard Presbyterian Church of Oak Park, which started services on September 24, 2017. They rented a sanctuary on Scoville Avenue in Oak Park. In March 2021 they purchased their current building at 607 Harvard Street in Oak Park where he attended till he died.
Proud of his Welsh heritage, loved taking trips to Wales to visit relatives who still live there, and was a longtime member of the Welsh Cambrian Benevolent Society.
Dave is preceded in death by his parents, Marge and Dick Williams; his brother Bob Williams, his sister-in-law Betty Kraakevik Williams, and his nephew Richard Gonzalez. He is survived by his sister Margaret Williams Gonzalez and brother-in-law Arthur Gonzalez; his brother Larry Williams and sister-in-law Mary Marsh Williams; his niece Margaret Gonzalez, nephew Arthur Gonzalez, nephew Grif Williams, niece Amy Williams Johnson, and grandnieces and nephews Noah Gonzalez, Alyssa Gonzalez, and Richie Gonzalez, Catherine, Annabel and Elizabeth Johnson, and his great-grandnephew Aiden Weir Gonzalez.
A memorial service will be held at 1 p.m., June 27, at Covenant Presbyterian Church, 2012 W. Dickens Ave., Chicago, IL 60647.
In lieu of flowers, please donate to further the work of the kingdom; Covenant Presbyterian Church (www.covenantchicago.org).Â
Arrangements were handled by Zimmerman-Harnett Funeral Home.