Not Fit For Print

Here’s a preview of the Cody Williams news obituary that will be in tomorrow’s paper. Williams, a Kings Valley resident, died in a single-car crash this morning.

A promising future cut short
By KYLE ODEGARD
Gazette-Times reporter

Cody Williams planned to build a new house on his grandfather’s land in Kings Valley, because the woodsy spread was the perfect place to raise his nine-month-old son.
“There’s a crick there,” said Williams’ mother, Charlotte Williams. “His son looks just like him.” The 26-year-old Philomath High School graduate had so much to look forward to, she added.
On Monday morning, though, Cody Williams died in a single-car crash on Highway 223, commonly known as the Kings Valley Highway. At about 6 a.m., Benton County Sheriff’s deputies responded to investigate the crash at milepost 25, near Kings Valley.
Rescue workers found Williams dead in a Ford pickup owned by his employer. Initial investigation revealed that Williams apparently lost control of the vehicle, rolling it into a ditch and trees.
The highway was closed for at least two hours during the investigation.
Sheriff Diana Simpson said alcohol or drugs are not believed to have been involved in the crash.
Charlotte Williams said her son was heading to work.
Williams was raised by a single mother, and grew up with his older sister, Nicki Williams Carroll, on the outskirts of Philomath. His grandfather, Dick Spinney, owned a trucking company and taught him about rigs and heavy machinery.
While he was still in high school, Williams began work at Beggs Tire & Wheel in Philomath, where he was employed for about nine years. About two years ago, he had switched jobs to work as a heavy equipment operator with Rick Franklin Corporation of Lebanon.
He lived with his girlfriend, Brandy Hlavinka, and their son, Braydon Williams, in a manufactured home on Dick Spinney’s land in the vicinity of 24800 Maxfield Creek Road in Kings Valley. He was a regular at the Kings Valley Store.
His grandmother, Pat Spinney, said Williams was immensely proud of his son. “He was a very good, kind-hearted young man. He would help anybody. He was a hard worker,” she said.
Williams loved the outdoors, hunting, fishing, and riding four-wheelers, so Kings Valley was like a slice of heaven, according to his mother.
“He wanted to stay here,” said Charlotte Williams. “He didn’t want to go anywhere else to live.”
Kyle Odegard can be contacted at kyle.odegard@lee.net or 758-9523.

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