John Patrick “Pat” Williams
October 30, 1937 - June 25, 2025
Pat Williams once said, “If you want to know who someone really is, give them power and see what they do with it.” What our father did with his life was defend the underdog, protect our wild lands, defend the working poor, Arts and culture, Native people, and children with disabilities. He served 18 years in Congress, more consecutive terms in the U.S. House than anyone in Montana history. Over his lifetime, he remained devoted to serving the people of Montana and making it a better place for future generations.
Williams was a proudly from Butte, Montana, he taught in the public schools, served as a state legislator, and became Montana’s longest-serving Congressman in the state's history. Throughout his career, he was known to Montanans simply as “Pat”. For many years, Montanan’s were on a first-name basis with their elected officials, Jeanette, Lee, Mike, Max and Pat. After retiring from Congress, he returned home to serve as a faculty member at the University of Montana.
He was born in Butte in 1937, during the Great Depression. His colorful Irish family included his mother Libby Williams, his cousin Evel Knievel, and Sister Toni Harris, Prioress of the Dominican nuns. His working parents owned the American Candy Shop in Butte. Because of their round-the-clock schedule, he was raised primarily by his cherished Irish grandmother Lizzy Keough. In 1965, he married Carol Griffith Williams. Theirs was a 60 year relationship that stood beyond description. Carol has been a life-long advocate for peace and justice, mother to their three children. She was also Pat’s ‘Senior Advisor’, campaign insider, policy director, poll manager, strategy leader—and the first woman to serve as both Montana Senate Majority and Minority Leader.
Williams was first elected to the Montana House of Representatives from Silver Bow County in 1966. After serving two terms in the Montana Legislature, he worked as an Executive Assistant to Montana Congressman John Melcher. Montanans elected Williams to the House of Representatives for nine terms, serving from 1979 to 1997. His year-and-a-half-long “Door to Door” campaign set the standard for grassroots campaigns. Williams, himself, knocked on 51,000 doors across western Montana, alongside a dedicated staff who he respected and loved. Many of these staff stayed with Pat for years, becoming a part of the family.
During his time in Congress, he was a tireless champion for working people. He led trailblazing legislation that assisted middle-class families and ensured educational opportunities for every child. Williams sat on congressional committees for the Budget, Natural Resources, Education, Labor, and Agriculture. He was the Chairman of the committees on Post-Secondary Education and Labor Management, and he created the College Middle Income Assistance Act. He sponsored the Family and Medical Leave Act, which protects workers from losing their jobs while taking maternity leave or caring for a sick family member. It was the first piece of legislation signed into law by President Bill Clinton. Williams was also responsible for the legislation that created the American Conservation Corps, providing thousands of America’s young people with an opportunity to serve their country and pursue higher education. Every state now has a Conservation Corps. In 1985, Williams was appointed Majority Whip under House leadership by Speaker Thomas “Tip” O’Neill.
Among his many legislative accomplishments were the Children with Disabilities Act of 1987, which he named after his god-daughter Keough Duffy. His legislation protected the Lee Metcalf Wilderness Area, located north of Yellowstone National Park, as well as the Rattlesnake Wilderness Area, north of Missoula, Montana. He led the successful effort to save the Bob Marshall Wilderness from oil and gas exploration and banned geothermal energy drilling near Yellowstone. In a 1987 floor speech supporting wilderness protection, he famously warned, “We’re not proposing wilderness for wilderness’ sake—we’re holding back the concrete tide that already threatens our birthright.”
Williams was a famously vocal champion for federal arts funding and has been credited with saving the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). His staunch advocacy of the NEA garnered him national attention during the Culture Wars of the 1980s and 1990s. It was a remarkable undertaking during a very trying time for the NEA, which he called “America’s Little Badge of Courage”. Williams said the opportunity to defend freedom of expression was one of the things for which he was most proud. When asked about President Donald Trump defunding the agency once again. Williams responded, “Art can flourish without politics. The reverse is not true. Arts reflect the diversity and pluralism of our society, which is free, and freedom is our bulwark against tyranny. You can burn a generation’s imagination by teaching them that art is something to fear.”
Pat worked tirelessly with Tribal Leaders to build Montana’s seven Tribal Colleges. Working together, they also established the High School on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation and the Two River Eagle School on the Flathead Reservation.
Upon his retirement from Congress in 1997, Williams immediately returned to Montana, where he resumed his role as a teacher and professor at the University of Montana. He taught courses in environmental studies, history, and political science. He was a Senior Fellow at the Center for the Rocky Mountain West and a Trustee for the National Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges, the National Association of Job Corps, and The President’s Advisory Commission for Tribal Colleges. He was appointed to the Board of Directors of the Student Loan Marketing Association. He led the development of Western Progress. Pat was responsible for the legislative creation of the Rural Disabilities National Research Lab and the Leopold Wilderness Research Institute, both at the University of Montana. In 2012, Governor Brian Schweitzer appointed Williams to the Board of Regents of the Montana University System.
In 2023, Williams was honored by the Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribes with an Indian name, cikʷsšn or Shining Stone. The name was chosen “as a reflection of his public service and how he shines as a leader, storyteller, and through the charismatic way he inspires, shares wisdom and makes people laugh. Shining Stone is a reflection of the strong foundation he provides his family, Butte and all of Montana. He is the statesman many go to for wise advice from a true elder.”
He believed government could be a force for good, and that culture, wilderness, and education were not luxuries—but rights. He never gave up on the American experiment, nor on the rugged promise of his home state.
In his later years, Pat said he still heard the call of the mountains walking with his dogs. He said “Out here, we measure a man by how well he listens when there’s no one else talking.”
Williams is survived by his wife Carol, son Griff Williams, daughters Erin Williams and Whitney Williams, his daughter-in-law Christine Treadway, son-in-law Joe Easton, and his deeply loved grandchildren: Keelan Williams, Aidan Williams and Fiona Easton.
May his life inspire us to work for the public good, take care of each other and remember we have much more in common than that which divides us.
In honor of his distinguished career, Pat’s body will be lying in state in the Capitol Rotunda in Helena, Montana. The Williams family will host a celebration of his remarkable life in Missoula. Both events will take place in July. Details to follow. Memorials can be made to the Pat Williams Scholarship for Artists at the University of Montana or The Williams Family Fund at the Montana Community Foundation.
