Remembering Don Williams

December 23, 2025

Susan Cook Henry
with thanks to his daughter, Deana Williams, for providing many details of her father’s life.

 

There are very few CFA breeders and exhibitors today who can claim to have been active from the beginning of the last half of this organization’s nearly 120-year history. Don Williams was one of them, and his loss leaves a huge hole – not only in CFA, but in the hearts of so many of us who have known him and shown in his judging rings over the past six decades.

Don’s introduction to the world of show cats came through his wife, Sharon, whose mother, Vi Schuh, was famous in her own right for her fabulous “Skyway” Persians, beginning in the mid-1950s. Don and Sharon established “Sherdon” cattery in the early 1960s, and upon Mrs. Schuh’s passing, they inherited Skyway. Those lines are still very prominent in generations behind so many of today’s winning Persians, and Don continued producing Skyway kittens as late as 1990. Don worked not only with Persians, but with several shorthair breeds including Abyssinians and Singapuras on his way to becoming CFA Allbreed judge. With his beloved wife, Leta, they expanded to Exotics with their “Squire” cattery, and were prominent on the show scene as exhibitors for many years together.

Susan with Don at a show in 2025.

Before Don’s fascination with show cats began, he served with the United States Air Force as a personnel officer. His knowledge of auto mechanics and skills with repairing cars made him a valuable asset to the officers he served (which avoided his deployment during the Korean War), and he developed a reputation for being a good resource for his USAF colleagues when they were looking to purchase cars. After an honorable discharge in 1957, Don began a professional career with AT&T, where his work ethic, technical skills, and reliability made him a valued employee. Those qualities remained with him for every endeavor he pursued in life. He loved cars in general and established Williams Classic Cars many years ago, with a number of pristine autos in his collection – and a few still at his home. But … as he always said, “everything is for sale for the right price.” He was a familiar face on the car show scene and captured a number of trophies for his valuable entries.

In addition to his love of cars, he had a passion for horses and especially appreciated the athleticism of the Quarter Horse. His beloved cutting horse, “Gem,” was his favorite. When Don and Leta purchased their farm in Ocala, FL, they had the facilities to keep horses (which Don had done earlier when he lived in Pennsylvania). There was a 20-year-old red dun Quarter Horse mare on the property, “Cutter,” and daughter Deana now cares for her and Don’s two donkeys at her farm in Pennsylvania. Don wasn’t sure Cutter was “broke,” but liked her bloodlines (similar to Gem’s), so he bought her in 2016. Well, in this video, he put her under saddle at age 18 to find out that she was indeed broke! This was only two years ago, when Don was a “young 90.” Five of his eight children (Deana and siblings Desiree, Debbie, Dan, and Dale – plus spouses) visited him to celebrate that special birthday in September 2023. Don’s loving family now has four further generations to carry on his stories, his warmth, and his spirit.

The first meeting ever of the Presidents of the world’s major cat organizations in Venice, 1994. From left to right: Anneliese Hackmann, President of World Cat Federation; Alva Uddin, President of Fédération Internationale Féline; Don Williams, President of the Cat Fanciers’ Association; and Brenda Wolstenholm, Chairman of the Governing Council of the Cat Fancy. From the World Cat Congress website.

CFA was Don’s true wheelhouse, and his leadership of the organization as president for 16 years (1986-1994 and 1996-2004), and as a member of CFA’s Board of Directors for 28 continuous years, he brought some significant changes to the organization, and many key projects were completed:

  • Guided CFA’s growth from a domestic U.S. association to a worldwide organization
  • Established the International Division
  • Was involved in the development of the Legislative Committee
  • Also engaged in the Cattery Inspection Program, including the Cattery of Excellence designation
  • Assisted with CFA’s Disaster Relief Program
  • Served as a founder of the CFA Foundation in 1990; president until his death
  • Co-founder of the Feline Historical Museum at CFA’s headquarters in Alliance, Ohio
  • One of four co-founders of the World Cat Congress in 1994, which brought multiple international cat associations together to address common-ground issues
Don with Allene Keating, Nancy Petersen, and Susan Cook Henry.

Don had excellent negotiating skills and used them widely with various corporate sponsors and vendors. He also took pride in fiscal matters, which led to successfully producing large shows that were almost completely funded, including the CFA IAMS shows and the original CFA-Purina Invitational, which evolved into the CFA International Show.

By now, there have been countless tributes to Don on social media outlets, many with photos and videos of his interactions with people and their cats. He was well known for his chatty nature in the judging ring, particularly when his finals were called. You didn’t dare be the last to put your cat in any of Don’s finals, as you then became the target of his wit and humor. This continued after the “victim” called a cage number for Don to award, whose owner was then tasked with calling the next number, and so on. Those exchanges were often hilarious and will always burn bright in our many memories of this beloved man and CFA icon.

Fittingly, at the December 2, 2025, CFA Board of Directors meeting, Don Williams was unanimously given the posthumous title of “CFA Judge Emeritus.”

Many thanks to Melody Boyd for compiling this lovely video tribute to Don.

 

We Have Lost Our Friend, Don Williams

Karen Lane

There will be reams and reams written about Don Williams and the good works he has done for the Cat Fancy Association. BUT, for many of us we have truly lost a best friend.

Don has been a part of anyone’s life who has shown a cat in CFA, because he, mostly likely, will have handled and judged your cat.  If you are a new exhibitor, he may have looked at you and asked you about your cat, and maybe a little bit about yourself.

If you have been showing for a long time, you will know that Don misses nothing about your cat and its quality, and maybe you’ll get a comment about “Where have you been?” or “How are you doing?”  No one liked getting exhibitors involved in their finals like Don did.  And heaven help you, if you were the last one to get your cat to his final.

Don has always been an “in the moment” kind of guy.  In 2004, in an unusual situation, he, and Stan Barnaby, became my best friends. There were the three of us, Florida people, each different and each alike.  We laughed and talked about everything and anything.  We exchanged Christmas presents and remembered birthdays.  Stan called us the “3 Gs:” a Girl, a Guy and a Gay.

Each one of us had suffered a personal loss, and life without that someone special was difficult. When Don came to West Palm Beach to sell Leta’s saddle; I met and went with him.  I did not hold his hand, but I watched his tears and assured him that life does go on.

After a terrible hurricane that did severe damage to my house, Don and Stan offered to shelter me and my sixteen cats. They drove down to help me move us all to Don’s house, until we would get electricity back in Palm Beach County.  This was a huge and unexpected offer, but I had to say no because I had two mothers with babies and I thought they were better staying in place.  So they did the next best thing and brought water and supplies to me.  The cats and I survived, and I have been forever grateful to these two guys.  I know in my heart that Don was truly a caring and giving person.

Some years ago, I had a special desire to secretly help a member of our club, and I asked Don to get involved with this project.  He did and to this day this project is still a secret to the family about how and who helped them financially.

Don was as human as any of us.  One morning Don called me and said he had an emergency and had to come down to Miami; he had an overseas judging assignment and his passport was expired.  I met him at an I-95 exit, went with him to the passport office in Miami, and we spent the five hour wait-time for his new passport together.  We had lunch and just entertained each other.

I always found Don to be a genuine person with a great desire to help. I watched him reach out to new people.  Many times, I got called up to Don’s ring to hear about a new person at the cat show and asked to seek out this person and see about getting this new person involved in club membership. Or to offer any sort of help in grooming or learning about CFA.  One of those new people just happens to be our club’s newest show manager.

I am sure there have been many people like me in Don’s life.  If you needed some advice about cat care, show grooming, breeding or any “how to” advice, Don was the best resource.

If you were Don’s friend, you kept in touch with each other and shared your experiences.  I also shared Don’s life with his love of horses and his other assorted farm animals.  I have the same background as he.  I am sure that there are stories, like mine, with so many people in Don’s life.

We all will carry our own personal relationship with Don, in our hearts and in our memories.  Don was one of those “special people.”

I hope we all meet again, in Paradise.