Russell "Dick" Williams was born May 7, 1892 in Concordia, Cloud County, Kansas. He graduated from the University of Kansas (KU) in 1915 and was a member of the Sigma Nu fraternity. He went to work at the Watkins National Bank of Lawrence as a bookkeeper in 1915, then served in World War I. After the war, he returned to work at the bank while attending KU to earn a law degree. Starting in 1925, Williams served as executive vice president at Watkins National Bank until its merger with the Lawrence National Bank in 1927. He was instrumental in establishing the Douglas County State Bank, serving as president until his death in 1970.

Williams married Mary Gossard in 1918 in Oswego, Labette County, Kansas, while on leave from service, where Gossard was from. He was a sergeant in the ordnance department, stationed at Camp Johnston, Jacksonville, Florida during the war.

In 1921, after the death of his employer, J. B. Watkins, financial businessman and owner of the Watkins National Bank of Lawrence, Williams became the personal and financial manager of Watkins' widow, Elizabeth Miller Watkins. Williams was instrumental in arranging many of her benefactions to KU and to the city of Lawrence.

Williams and his sons, Skipper and Odd, managed 30,000 acres of southwest Kansas farmland bequeathed to the KU Endowment Association by Elizabeth Watkins. Dick Williams was known for his support in theLawrence community, serving on several board and executive committees, and investing in farm land. He was active in the fraternities at KU and was an avid trap shooter (the sport of using a shotgun to shoot clay disks sprung from a trap).

Dick Williams died June 22, 1970.

[Information taken from the collection and newspaper articles published in the Lawrence Daily Journal-World, June 25, 1918, and Lawrence Journal-World, June 22, 1970.]