From the archives: ‘Mr. Christmas’ Andy Williams was an Iowan to the end
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WochitSinger Andy Williams is shown in this undated file photo.(Photo: Associated Press Photo/File)Editor’s note: This story by the Register’s Michael Morain and Kyle Munson originally ran Sept. 27, 2012. Andy Williams, a Wall Lake native, died two days earlier in Branson, Missouri. Visit our Famous Iowans database, where we feature hundreds of notable names from actor John Wayne to astronaut Peggy Whitson.Millions of fans know Andy Williams as the velvety voice of “Moon River,” the music icon who hosted holiday TV specials and wore Christmas sweaters without a stitch of irony.But the act, apparently, wasn’t an act — and it ended Sept. 25, 2012 at his home in Branson, Missouri, after a yearlong battle with bladder cancer. The Wall Lake, Iowa, native was 84.”I’ve had so many calls this morning,” the Wall Lake Historical Society’s Betty Brotherton said after his death. The society oversees the house where Williams was born, which has been restored to reflect the time he lived there, back in the 1930s. Busloads of visitors stop by every summer.The birthplace museum perches atop a hill on the south end of town. Inside, Brotherton and her friend Esther Bielema had stopped by to give a quick tour to a reporter. But the phone kept ringing.”I just can’t believe that he’s gone,” Brotherton said. “It’s just …””Surreal,” Bielema interjected, finishing the thought.Williams spent most of his last years in Branson, and he owned another home in La Quinta, California, where he was named an honorary mayor. But “Mr. Christmas” was an Iowan to the end — hardworking, sunny, humble to a fault.Show ThumbnailsShow CaptionsLast SlideNext SlideHe chipped in money to help build his hometown’s community center …
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