Evan M. Williams

Evan M. Williams, age 16, passed away on Friday, January 17, 2025 at his home in Appleton. He was born on October 12, 2008 in Neenah to Corey Williams and Anna (Gruenberg) Barbian.

Evan was the kindest, most loving person the entire 16 years he was with us. We can’t remember one person ever saying he did a bad thing or said a bad word about anyone. He had no stranger-danger skills, and we all worried about that when he was little, but in a funny way because he was always with a family member. The exception was when he was in school, so we had to ask them to keep an extra eye- Evan’s favorite motto was “There are no strangers, only potential friends”.  He was a positive human, always. He touched so many people- from all the medical staff (trust when we say too many to count), to all the teachers who had him as a student, to his parent’s co-workers, extended family, and of course his primary families, both mom’s and dad’s side.

When his sister was born 20 months before he was, she was called community baby because she was the “first” and everyone wanted to get her love. When Evan came his mother said, “Everyone can back off this one is mine”.  Well joke was on her because Evan was built to love everyone. He was so special to all of us. After his radiation/chemo/surgeries when he was little the family tried their best they could to let Evan have as normal of a child’s life as possible. Evan had a lot of good years. His first prognosis was that he wouldn’t live to see school, but because of the hard work and unwavering commitment by his family, Evan didn’t start having post-proton radiation issues until he was a freshman in highschool! Unfortunately, his first stroke was on September 11, 2023. For the sake of keeping this a reasonable length, we will just say the 15 months that followed were extremely difficult for all of us. Ultimately he had small vessel disease in all the areas affected by the radiation, and it was his final demise.

His family loved and will continue to love him so much. We notice the quiet, and that he’s not here with us physically. But he will always be with us and only time heals.

Evan is survived by his parents: Corey (Trisha) Williams and Anna (Joel) Barbian; sister, Marley Williams; step-siblings: Gracen and Kaleb Barbian, Rhiannon and Rowan Adams; grandparents: Mark and Patricia Williams, Maureen Gruenberg, Charlie and Kathleen Loomis, LeRoy and Carol Barbian; uncles and aunts: Kirby Ketola, Jacob Gross, Trisha Friday, Britanni Williams; Christina and Kevin Barbian; and numerous other family and friends. He was preceded in death by his uncle, Kieth Barbian; grandparents: Pete Gruenberg, Harriett Taylor; great grandparents: Carl and Eileen Stamm, Kenneth and Delores Budde.

A funeral service will be held at 1:00 pm on Saturday, January 25, 2025 at Valley Funeral Home, 2211 N Richmond Street, Appleton. Visitation will take place at the funeral home on Saturday from 10:00 am until the time of service

To send flowers to the family, please visit our floral store.