Janet and Warren McWilliams heard nonstop praise for their almost seven decades of service to Fair Oaks during the Sept 30 celebration. Photo courtesy of Lynda McWilliams  

FAIR OAKS, CA (MPG) - It was a love fest Sept. 30 as scores of Fair Oaks residents and friends honored Janet and Warren McWilliams' almost 70 years of community leadership during a Lifetime of Service Celebration at the Fair Oaks Community Clubhouse. 

The couple, married 68 years, is affectionately known as Mr. And Mrs. Fair Oaks.

"You can't get involved in Fair Oaks stuff without running into the McWilliams," said State Sen. Roger Niello. "They carry community activism to a high degree. We're lucky to have them here."

And Keith Walter, who emceed and helped organize the event, had similar sentiments.

"My wife and I moved here 14 years ago. It's hard to imagine what we would have done without them.  They adopted us and introduced us to our volunteering here," Walter said. "They were great mentors."

The Sept. 30 celebration included a dinner buffet, joint resolution by State Senator Roger Niello and State Assemblyman Josh Hoover, celebratory remarks by community leaders, and warm and appreciative greetings by attendees to the beloved couple throughout the night.

According to event attendees, the McWilliams have been outstanding volunteers, philanthropists and role models.

Warren McWilliams was the assistant Fair Oaks postmaster and a dedicated Fair Oaks Rotary Club member and president in 1987. He was also the Fair Oaks Historical Society president multiple times and Janet McWilliam was equally supportive of the historical society and documented local history stories.

The Sept. 30 "Lifetime of Service Celebration" event celebrated the outstanding contributions of Janet and Warren McWilliams. Photo by Carol Feineman

A teacher/reading specialist at San Juan Unified School District, Janet McWilliams was a devoted Fair Oaks Inner Wheel Club member and president, and a Woman's Thursday Club leader.

The McWilliams co-founded the Fair Oaks Foundation for Leisure and the Arts, which funds and supports community arts and cultural programs. They started Concerts in the Park for the Fair Oaks Centennial Celebration in 1995, an event still enjoyed today. Active in the Fair Oaks Chamber of Commerce, they served several times as Fair Oaks Christmas Parade grand marshals.

The McWilliams were also founding members of the friendship-based Society of the Rising Moon, a group that Niello's and Hoover's resolution stated "brought joy to many local residents." The resolution also stated that the McWilliams have generously donated to the Fair Oaks Rotary Club, Inner Wheel Club of Fair Oaks and Fair Oaks Theatre Festival and provided support for the local amphitheater's renovations.

Their caregiver, Wesley Gaston, acknowledged the community's love for the McWilliams. 

"They mean a lot to me; they mean a lot to the community," said Gaston, whose grandparents were close friends with the McWilliams. 

Bud Beebe, with the Fair Oaks Historical Society, said that the McWilliams have been "wonderful supporters of the historical society and all aspects of Fair Oaks.” 

"(The event was) notable not only because they have done so much for the Fair Oaks Community," Beebe said, "but also because this was chosen to be the very first event held in the long awaited refurbished Fair Oaks Clubhouse. Such an iconic setting for such an honored Fair Oaks couple."

Walter was just as pleased with the Sept. 30 Lifetime of Service Celebration honoring the McWilliams.

"For me, the McWilliams’ evening was pure joy," Walter said, "a beautiful reminder of the impact one family can have on a whole community."

As for the guests of honor, they were humbled and gracious about the large number of attendees at the celebration. 

"I'm overwhelmed," Janet McWilliams said before the speeches began.

And Warren McWilliams said, "Oh, my God. I don't understand why they did it." 

When it was suggested that they were being honored for all their years helping the Fair Oaks community flourish, Warren McWilliams said, "Fair Oaks is the most wonderful place in the world. It's home." 

It was also a proud night for the couple's son, Warren McWilliams III, DDS, who said that the Oct. 30 celebration "was a prime example of how things ought to be."

"You give your entire life to the charity of your town, you should be recognized. If there were more people like my parents in this world, we would be living in a much better world," he said after the event. "My parents are living examples of how to live your life. Life should not be as complicated as so many of us make it. Do on to others as you would like others to do onto you. My parents are shining examples of how we all should live. To see them celebrated in public was a wonderful experience that I will not soon forget."