Will Williams, USA - Obituary

r. Will L. Williams is one of Conecuh County's quiet achievers. Born in the Mixonville community in 1926, he began to prepare himself early for success at a one-room, one teacher school before graduating from the Conecuh County Training School in 1943. After high school a strong desire to succeed led him to Tuskegee Institute, a mecca for preparing black leaders in the South. At Tuskegee Williams aced an army exam in 1944 which resulted in his being selected to attend Howard University in Washington, D. C., to pursue an engineering course of study. His studies were interrupted there, however, by an active duty call to the military on his eighteenth birthday. After 22 months in the army Williams was discharged. Still focused, he returned to Howard University in 1947. This time he majored in chemistry and pre-med, and graduated with honors in 1951, while receiving a commission as a 2nd Lieutenant in the ROTC. Uncle Sam grabbed him again and gave Williams an opportunity to show leadership on a larger front, commanding an infantry company in Korea. He rose to the rank of 1 st Lieutenant. In 1955, Williams was accepted and began his medical studies at Howard University where he received his M. D. degree in 1959. After medical school he completed four years of postgraduate training in internal medicine at hospitals in the Washington, D. C. area. In his last year of residency he was appointed chief medical resident. Subsequently he became an instructor in medicine at his alma mater before being asked to join the medical staff at St. Elizabeths Hospital in Washington. The bulk of his medical career and practice was spent at St. Elizabeths, where he rose to become chief and head of the department of medicine. He retired from this position in 1994. Though Dr. Williams may have played the role of "a little Indian" in Conecuh County during the 1920s and 1930s, his remarkable professional career as a medical and military officer demonstrates that he liked to be a chief as well as the best. For he is a retired chief of medicine as well as a retired Colonel in the U. S. Army Reserves, Medical Corps, where his peers and superiors often gave him superior ratings or recognized him for outstanding performance. Three times between 1988 and 1994 he was selected "Teacher of the Year" or "Best Physician" by residents, interns, and students where he worked. In 1986, the 2290th USAH Fourth Annual Medical Conference was dedicated to him. He holds membership in the National Medical Association, the District of Columbia Medical Society, the St. Elizabeths Medical Society, and the Association of Military Surgeons USA. Currently he maintains an active affiliation with the Greater Southeast Community Hospital and the Hadley Memorial Hospital in Washington, D.C. Dr. Williams is a widower. He enjoyed photography, traveling, ballroom dancing and visiting his family and friends. He passed away on Tuesday, June 28, 2011 in Washington, DC. The beloved husband of the late Billie Williams; father of the late Eric Williams; uncle of Denise Williams of Clinton, MD; grandson Eric Williams, and his long-time companion, Elizabeth Mandapat. He is survived by numerous nieces, nephews, cousins and friends.