William Paul Williams

MIDDLEBURY - William P. Williams, 70, died Monday, September 16 at his home on Green Hill Road. He was the husband of Marianne (Erceg) Williams. Mr. Williams was born in Everett, Mass., August 16, 1932, son of the late Alfred P. and Dorothy (Meehan) Williams. He was raised in Belmont, Mass., and was a graduate of Belmont High School. He received a bachelor's degree in history and government from Boston College and a master's of education from Boston State College. He also attended Harvard, Rutgers University and Seton Hall University. A U.S. Army veteran of the Korean Conflict, he served as a military policeman in Germany and traveled throughout the U.K., Ireland, Belgium, France and Germany. He served with the Peace Corps from 1962 to 1964, teaching English in Loey, Thailand. He taught U.S. history at Woodbridge Sr. High School and John F. Kennedy Memorial High School, both in New Jersey, and served in various administrative posts there before becoming principal of Watertown High School from 1971 to 1980. He was principal of Heminway Park School in Watertown from 1980 to 1981, and again at Watertown High School from 1981 until his retirement in 1994. A 31-year Middlebury resident, he was a communicant of St. John of the Cross Church. He was a member of the National Association of Secondary School Principals, Connecticut Association of Secondary Schools, Watertown Principals Association, and Connecticut Principals Status and Welfare Association. He was a member of the Board of Directors of Waterbury Teacher's Credit Union and was on the Advisory Council of the Central Naugatuck Valley Higher Education Center. He was a member of American Professional Partnership in Lithuanian Education, a group that held education workshops in Lithuania. Besides his wife, he leaves two sons, Michael Williams of Cheshire and Timothy Williams of Bedford, Mass.; two daughters, Cathleen Williams of Northboro, Mass., and Elizabeth Williams of Middlebury; a brother, Francis Williams of Ft. Pierce, Fla.; three sisters, Alice Smith of Westwood, Mass., Teresa Brown of Melrose, Mass., and Marie Crowley of West Roxbury, Mass.; two grandchildren and a step-grandson. A sister, Dorothy Sullivan, and two brothers, Robert Williams and Alfred Williams, are deceased. Funeral services took place September 19 at St. John of the Cross Church. Burial is private and at the family's convenience. Arrangements are by Hickcox Funeral Home, Watertown. Memorial contributions may be made to the American Cancer Society, 538 Preston Ave., P.O. Box 1004, Meriden 06450.