Frank Willians, age 91, of Virginia Beach, VA, went to be with the Lord on September 12, 2024. Husband of Emma Kaeller Williams, the son of the late Frank and Louise Williams, he was born April 16, 1933 in New Haven, Connecticut and attended New Haven Public Schools.
He spent a year of post high school work at Suffield Academy and earned a BA degree from Providence College, RI and an M.Ed. degree from Springfield College, MA. He also served in the US Army from January 1958 to 1960.
Frank was a member of Bank Street Memorial Baptist Church in Norfolk where he served on the Mens’ Usher Ministry, Men’s Fellowship, Mobile Meals Ministry, Church’s Food Pantry and Courtesy Guild. Frank moved to Virginia after retiring from the City of New Haven, CT where he served as Director of Parks and as Assistant Director of Athletic and Physical Education for the Board of Education.
Throughout his life, Mr. Williams was very active in community life and was the recipient of numerous civic awards. He also was a life member of the NAACP. During his extensive career, he worked for the National Council of YMCA in the Ohio-West Virginia office, and the City of Bridgeport, CT as development administrator; corporate manager of Training and Manpower Planning for Raybestos-Manhattan, Inc; and vice president of City Savings Bank of Bridgeport.
He was an adjunct staff member of the National Training Lab of Washington, DC, and he operated his own consulting firm, Fieldport Associates, and was executive director of the Dixwell Community House in his home community of New Haven.
While in Virginia he worked for the Virginia Beach Recreation Department as a Field and Gym supervisor and also volunteered as a scorekeeper for the Youth Basketball Tournament of the Little Creek Athletic Association and a volunteer at the Union Mission, where he served lunch faithfully for years.
Frank experienced an extensive athletic career for which he received great recognition. While attending Hillhouse High School in New Haven, he was selected for the first Connecticut All State Football team and was captain of the school’s basketball team, which won the state and New England Championships in 1952. Mr. Williams was elected into the New Haven Gridiron Club Hall of Fame and the Hillhouse High School Hall of Fame. He received the Man of the Year Award (2010) from the Brotherhood of Bank Street Memorial Baptist Church; an Appreciation A ward from the Little Creek Athletic Association; and a Class Act Award from the Virginia Beach Recreation Division for providing Recreation Center members with courteous and friendly service.
Frank is survived by his two children Wendy Williams Harris (Gerald) of Hamden, CT, and Krista Williams of New Haven, CT (Mother of Wendy and Krista Barbara Williams); his three grandchildren Cokeisha Powell, Nicole Johnson (Fred), and Michelle White; his ten great grand children Sydney, Taylor, Jacob, Carryn, Tyler, Jarari, Briana, David, Mataja and Pharaoh; and his one great great granddaughter Astraea as well as a host of nieces, nephews, and friends. He was predeceased by his wife Emma K. Williams; parents Frank A. Williams, Sr. and Louise Williams, sisters Sophronia Woodard, Josephine Johnson, Marie Jackson, Margaret McAden Emma Thomas, and Ruth Williams.