 Her father served in the United States Air Force in Riverside, California, for two years.She grew up in Salt Lake City, Utah, within sight of Great Salt Lake.Atomic testing at the Nevada Test Site (outside Las Vegas) between 1951 and 1962 exposed Williams' family to radiation like many Utahns (especially those living in the southern part of the state), which Williams believes is the reason so many members of her family have been affected by cancer.