Williams Precisely Sharp provides Bemidji area with sharpening services of all kinds

Dennis Doeden, The Bemidji Pioneer, Minn.
·4 min read

Mar. 23—BEMIDJI — If you need an ax or a saw blade sharpened, Steven Williams is your guy.

The 74-year-old former preacher and cancer survivor says he kind of fell into the sharpening business some 33 years ago.

"I didn't think I could make a living at it," Williams recalled.

He runs the business, Williams Precisely Sharp, out of a garage on the 40-acre property east of Bemidji that he and his wife Bonnie own. If you search for saw sharpening services, it's the first option in the Bemidji area.

"We sharpen most anything, big or small," Williams said. That includes large band saw blades for area sawmills, carbide blades for carpenters and planer knives. Some area restaurants bring him their kitchen knives and scissors, and he recently took an order for leather-cutting tools from Northern Surplus.

The shop is located at 50274 279th Avenue east of Bemidji. For more information, call

(218) 444-7895.

Steven and Bonnie met as college students at the Midwestern School of Evangelism in Ottumwa, Iowa, and were married in 1972. They lived in Iowa, then moved to Florida and Nebraska, in both cases to help out with Church of Christ congregations as preacher and youth group leaders.

At the urging of friends from the Church of Christ in Bemidji, they moved to the area in 1978 with their three young children and rented a house in town near the church, which was located at 522 America Ave. NW (now the Wolfe Center). However city living did not appeal to the couple, and they started looking for property in the country.

"In Nebraska or Iowa there's always old farmsteads that they rent out," Bonnie said. "We could not find anything like that up here."

They eventually found an acreage east of town and began building a home. Steven was preaching at the Church of Christ but also did carpentry work in the area, and the couple both did some work for Lady Slipper Designs, which was located near their property.

"We put up a shell of a house here, 32 feet by 32 feet," Bonnie said. "We had the walls up and most of the windows in, and we moved out here. It had a flat roof with tar paper back then. And we had an outhouse."

Steven had to haul in water until they saved enough to put in a well, and eventually, they were able to finish the house and add indoor plumbing.

The last three of their six children were born in Bemidji, and as the family grew, they added gardens and dozens of fruit trees. They also started raising goats and chickens, and the children were all homeschooled.

"I would do the bookwork, but Steven would read history books and the classics to them at night," Bonnie said.

"I was blessed to get to do that every evening," Steven added.

The family has now grown to include 23 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren, with most living in the Bemidji area.

Steven's mild-mannered and introverted personality did not keep him from the pulpit during his many years as a minister at the Church of Christ.

"Preaching wasn't necessarily natural for him," said friend and fellow church elder Mike Locke, "but I was impressed that he pressed forward to do something that wasn't as easy for him as maybe other people."

He says he misses his time as a preacher, even though it was a challenge.

"Coming up with a connected sermon is the hard part," said Steven, who survived a bout with non-Hodgkins lymphoma in the early 1990s. "You try to do your best, even if it's not quite my inclination. I think there was divine guidance on that, and many people praying for me."

When asked about her husband's strength as a preacher, Bonnie said, "He's truly devoted to the Lord. Very sincere. He didn't preach flamboyant sermons, but common sense that the normal person could gain something from."

These days, Steven continues to run his sharpening business, and there are plenty of family and church activities.

"Being a friend, sometimes I'll bring something over there (for sharpening), but he'll never charge me because it's part of his helping other people," Mike Locke said.

Bonnie added, "Part of the reason he hasn't retired yet is we don't have any notions of taking off and traveling a whole lot. We're pretty satisfied right here in Bemidji and with our family, friends and church."