Will Williams
Ray Fowler
We were blessed with two wonderful speakers on June 10th.
Will Williams is a member of the Georgetown Rotary Club and told us stories about his background. His family has 26 members who have been in the military, including his 108 year old father, who was at D-Day in WWII. Will was an Army Ranger, who went through Ranger school twice because he broke his leg towards the end of his first stent and had to start over. He was deployed six times, to Iraq, Afghanistan and Panama. Will’s stories were of perseverance and not giving up. In that vein, Will started a foundation called “Share the Will.” Share the Will helps fill community needs year-round. Through partnerships with several nonprofits in Central Texas, they are able to extend their reach to create a bigger impact in the community. Whether donating time, money or talent, there are many ways to share goodwill in your community. For more information about his foundation, go to www.sharethewill.org.
Ruben “Ray” Fowler is a retired Austin firefighter and NFL official, who is also Tink’s cousin. He grew up in east Austin and graduated from Anderson HS, where he was bused from east Austin. He was an athlete growing up and kept playing sports even when he was a firefighter. Ray was a fire fighter starting out of college and drove an engine for 25 years. While a firefighter, he started working as a football official – worked his way up from Pop Warner to HS varsity and then to the college level. Eventually he became an official in the NFL, first working in Europe. He started officiating games in the NFL stateside in 2006 and continued doing so for 15 years. The last year Ray worked was during COVID when the stadiums were empty. He has been to every stadium and worked in London four times. Ray’s favorite stadium is in Seattle and his favorite city to visit is San Diego.
Thanks to both of these wonderful speakers for telling us their stories!