F. Dean Williams, a retired chart caller for Daily Racing Form who along with his son Robert is a member of the Nebraska Horse Racing Hall of Fame, died on Tuesday in Elkhorn, Nebraska. He was 80.

Dean Williams started working for Daily Racing Form in 1947 and spent almost 50 years following racing on the Arizona and Nebraska circuits. He was inducted into the Nebraska Horse Racing Hall of Fame in 1995, 12 years before his son Robert received the same honor.

Robert Williams began his career as a jockey in 1976 and has won more than 4,200 races. Robert Williams began working as a steward this year, and is currently based at State Fair Park in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Dylan Williams, Robert’s son and Dean’s grandson, is a jockey at Prairie Meadows Racetrack in Altoona, Iowa.

Dean Williams worked a variety of jobs during his lengthy career on the Nebraska circuit. While regularly traveling from track to track, he also served as a racing secretary and morning clocker, and even announced races.

Dean Williams was the announcer when Fonner Park in Grand Island, Nebraska, ran its first live card on April 29, 1954.

“I was trying to call horses and it was cold and snowy out,” Dean Williams said in a 2003 interview. “The windows would steam over. You really couldn’t see out. So you had to call with the windows open.

“I wound up with a bad throat and toughed it out.”

Dean Williams was also the announcer when his son Robert set a track record at State Fair Park by winning eight races on September 29, 1984.

“I have a tape of the races that day,” Robert Williams said in 2003. “When I won the eighth race, he was kind of choked up.”

Dean Williams was born in Harrison, Nebraska, on August 12, 1927, and learned his horsemanship from his father Floyd, a former trainer who served as Robert’s first agent. Dean Williams pursued a degree in agricultural engineering before deciding to make his living in horse racing. 

A private family service will be held for Dean Williams, who is survived by his wife of 54 years, Sheila, and four children. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to Life Care Center of Elkhorn, 20275 Hopper Street, Elkhorn, Nebraska, 68022.

Heafey-Heafey-Hoffman-Dworak-Cutler Funeral Chapel in Omaha, Nebraska, is handling the arrangements.