John A. Williams

Obituary:

John Adrian Williams, died peacefully of natural causes after a long and lyrical life on 6 May 2025 in Setauket, NY, at the age of 90.

John is survived by his wife, Ginger Williams; his stepchildren,s Lilly McCrea (Sean) and Tim (Anne) Roberts; his nieces and nephews Erik (Lucy) Williams, Harriet (Leo) Hopf, and Kelsey (Paul) Boxall; his grand-nieces and nephews, Bengt and Erik Williams, E McKinley Hopf, Jackson and Alexander Boxall, and Felix and Simon Roberts; and his former sister-in-law, Nina (Stromgren) Allen. He was proceeded in death by his parents, Harold and Eileen (Jackson) Williams, and his stepsister Betty (Dan) Miller, and brother Robert Jackson (Craigenne) Williams.

John was born in Iowa City, Iowa on March 9, 1935, the son of Harold Marshall Williams and Eileen Ruth (Jackson) Williams. The family, including his older brother Robert, moved to Madison, WI in 1941, where he spent his childhood and youth.

John graduated from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, in 1957, with a degree in History. He traveled west and completed his master's degree at the University of California, Berkeley, then returned to Madison for his PhD. After a year in New Zealand on a Fulbright scholarship studying the politics of Maori protest movements, he joined the faculty at the University of Washington in 1963, as an Assistant Professor. A few years later, he was recruited to Stony Brook University, in Setauket, where he spent the rest of his career and life. In 1969, John published his first book, Politics of the New Zealand Maori: Protest and Cooperation, 1891-1909, drawing on the work he started in New Zealand. In 1994, he published his second book, Classroom in Conflict: Teaching Controversial Subjects in a Diverse Society, drawing on his experience teaching the history of colonized countries through his long career. "My own activist project," said John, "is to defend scholarly values in a dangerous world."

John was, fundamentally, a man of books, ideas, and poetic sharing of memories and quirky observations on life. He was a beloved uncle and great uncle (familiarly known as Great John by that generation), who always had time for games (especially anagrams, backgammon, and chess, and also tennis), reading and discussing books, engaging with the diverse points of view of the next generations, and talking family history. He was the self-anointed keeper of the family recipes, and made sure the next generations knew how to bake an apple pie and That Hot Dish.

John was also a wonderful colleague, neighbor, and community-member. An avid (and vicious) tennis player, he played weekly doubles matches into his 80s. His primary social community revolved around the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Setauket, NY.

John was married three times. His marriages to Ann Louise Clarenbach in, 1956, and to Janice Boland, in 1967, ended in divorce. In 1995, he met fellow poet and dreamer, Ginger Martin Roberts, at the UU Fellowship, a place they both considered their spiritual home. He wooed her by sending her poems. When they were married in 1998, John was welcomed by Ginger's two children Lilly and Tim both for his merits as an amusing, smart man and more importantly for the immense happiness he brought to their mom.

During this long and happy marriage, the two wrote with one another and many others, publishing books and leading sermons at the UU. John authored charming poems, such as "The Compulsive Bibliophile Considers his Purchase" and the very funny "Zipper Anxiety." When Ginger fell ill in 2017, John took care of her. His dedication and enduring love were obvious to even casual observers.