MichaelBernardWilliams, 70,passedaway peacefullyinhishomein Sewall'sPoint,Fla.on July2,2017afteratwo year battlewith pancreaticcancer.Mike wasbornJune1,1947in
PrincessAnneCounty, Virginia(nowVirginiaBeach),oneofeightsiblings.
HeattendedUnion KempsvilleHighSchoolin VirginiaBeach. MikemovedtoWashington,DCinthelate1960s andbeganhiscareerinthefieldnowknownas
informationtechnology.Mikewasaspecialistin computersystems,workingforbanks,Sibley
HospitalandtheAmericanChemicalSocietybefore movingintothelabormovementasanemployeeof
theAmericanFederationofState,Countyand MunicipalEmployees,orAFSCME.Mikeenjoyed
workinginlabor,especiallyvariousGetOutThe Votecampaignsacrossthecountry.Duringhislast
yearsatAFSCME,Mikebecameassistanttothe secretarytreasurerandservedastheexecutive
directoroftheCoalitionofBlackTradeUnionists.
Uponretirement,MikeandhiswifeMarcieBalow movedtoSewall'sPoint.Mikeimmediatelybecame
involvedwithseveralorganizationsthatassistthose inneedinourcommunity.Throughhischurch,
ImmanuelLutheraninPalmCity,hebecame managerofImmanuel'sSoupKitchen,serving
dinnerseverySunday.Hegotinvolvedwiththe BridgeChristianOutreachMinistries,distributing
foodanddiapersthreeFridayseachmonth.Mike alsousedhiscomputerskillstoassisttheAARP
Tax AideProgram.
Mikewasprecededindeathbyhisparents,Ellisand GenevaWilliams,andbrothersEllisIIIandEarnest
Wills.HeissurvivedbyhiswifeMarcieÍsons MichaelB.WilliamsJr.,MarcusC.Williamsand
KevinBaxterÍsistersVelmaGoffigan,Fannie Dixson,Barbara Blount ,andJudyDoyleÍbrother
JerryLeeWilliams,threegrandchildrenandahost ofniecesandnephews.
AcelebrationofMichael'slifeserviceswillbeheld 11a.m.Saturday,July22atImmanuelLutheran
Church,PalmCity,andnoonSaturday,July29at MorningStarBaptistChurch,VirginiaBeach,Va.
Inlieuofflowers,contributionsmaybemadeto ImmanuelLutheranChurchortheBridgeChristian
OutreachMinistries.
Aguestbookmaybeviewedat www.treasurecoastseawinds.com.