Funeral services were held Thursday for St. Albert realtor Janet Williams, who died Dec. 5 at the age of 75, after a six-month battle with cancer.
Williams, who was known as “Jan” to business associates and friends, had been a realtor since 1969, when she was hired as one of the first of four women selling real estate in Edmonton. In 1979, with partner Ron Knowlton, she purchased the franchise rights to St. Albert Re/Max.
“Mom was a trail-blazer,” her son Ken recalled.
“She started in the days when it was the good-old-boys selling real estate and it was a men’s club. But Jack Webber hired her and many women because he felt women would do well in real estate. She absolutely loved it.”
Jan was married for 53 years to Ken Williams, who died three years ago. Ken Williams Sr. served in the RCMP and was posted to several small communities throughout Alberta before being transferred to serve as the head of the RCMP in St. Albert. Later he worked at K-Division in Edmonton before leaving the force to start Williams Property Management.
“We always lived in the house adjacent to the barracks or the jail. To earn extra money Mom would cook dinner for the prisoners who were in the jail cells. Whatever we had for dinner, they had too. That was one of her first jobs,” daughter Penny Verbeek said.
In 1969 Ken and Jan purchased their first home at 13 Granite Ave. and it was always their pride and joy.
“They never left it. That was home and they fell in love with it. It may not have been the biggest house in St. Albert, but it had the most memories. Every year they put up the same Christmas tree and put the same pumpkin in the window and those are the things that create memories,” son Ken said.
But it was the purchase of that home that led Jan to start in real estate herself.
“They had a mortgage to pay and the two of them sat down at the kitchen table and decided Mom had to go get a job,” Ken said, who also recalled that though his mother worked hard at selling real estate, she still managed to come to every early-morning hockey practice with him.
“Real estate is a hard profession, but Mom was the most positive person and she was that way about real estate too. She made cold calls. She might knock on 50 doors and maybe only get one client from that, but you know what? She was thrilled with that one.”
Though they were both experienced realtors, starting their own real estate company was a nervous, exciting time for Jan and Knowlton.
“It was a scary time for both of us. A big step,” Ron Knowlton said.
For some months they were the only two realtors in their new company.
“We sold houses to pay the bills. All our commissions were plowed back into the business. It was four months before the first realtors joined us and it seemed that it wasn’t quick enough for us. The first to join us was Ed Gerlach and soon afterwards Phil Filipchuk and Randy Mayoh,” Knowlton said.
Jan and Knowlton expanded the business to include Re/Max Insurance and Morinville Re/Max. They were also partners in Edmonton Re/Max and they purchased houses for investment purposes. When they sold the company in 2000, St. Albert Re/Max had 40 realtors.
While Knowlton ran the business end of Re/Max, Jan was the people person that everyone gravitated to.
“She was a nurturing, caring person with the sales people and formed a bond with people, especially on the international side of the business. When I had my head down doing the numbers, she had her head up seeing where we were going,” Knowlton said.
“She had a sense of humour about everything and she loved life, but I cannot tell you just one funny story about my mom. I have a thousand funny stories and I wouldn’t know where to start. She was the leader of the band,” son Ken said.
Knowlton agreed. When asked what it was like to work with Jan Williams, his answer was succinct, and meaningful.
“I think she was my lucky day,” he said.
Jan Williams is survived by daughters Mary-Jo Williams and Penny (Rolly) Verbeek and son Ken (Laurie) Williams; grandchildren Kurt (Christal) Stenberg, Niki (Brandon) Wallace, Kenny Williams, Christopher Williams, Samantha Williams, Cole Verbeek and great granddaughters Sydney and Payton Wallace.
