2008 Woodie Awards
College mourns loss of Williams
Andrea Gissing
Issue date: 2/17/05 Section: News
- Page 1 of 1
Middlebury College lost a valuable member of the community in Alan Williams after he passed away last week. Williams is survived by his only son, Daniel. A celebration of his life was held Kirk Alumni Center last Sunday.
Williams started working at the College in 1992, first in dining supervising in Proctor, then in catering and in the heating plant. A hard and responsible worker, Williams was known to be perpetually positive and smiling, a man who tried to become a true friend to everyone he met. "He enjoyed working with co-workers," said Kit Quesnel, commons dining room manager. "He encouraged workers to succeed."
"He was one of those people that had a 'twinkle in his eye,'" said Catering Coordinator Mary Reed. "Alan had cancer but never lost his positive attitude. He never gave into it even right up to the end."
Born and raised in England, Williams was a very educated man who liked Shakespeare and the classics. "Sometimes he would get frustrated with us 'bloody Yanks' when we butchered the Queen's English, but he had a wonderful sense of humor," said Ed Prouty, heating plant supervisor.
"All of his co-workers enjoyed his English accent," said Reed. "We would often joke about the different words or phrases with Alan that he used that we were unaccustomed to. He always took it in the good humor it was meant."
"Alan was always telling his co-workers that he would teach them how to 'speak bloody English,'" said custodian Mary Glidden.
Additionally, Williams had a great love for the maritime, water, and spent his free time reading up on boat making. "He had a great interest in building a sailboat and had had one partially built," said Prouty.
"[Williams] loved his work with the catering service because it brought him in contact with a lot of the students," said Prouty. Williams loved sharing ideas with the students, and even, as Prouty described, "attended a lot of student government meetings."
During his two-year battle against cancer, Williams continued to work until September, "when he wasn't able to work any more," said Prouty. "That frustrated him greatly."
"He was a very dependable and reliable worker for us," said Reed. "He tended a lot of bar events during the year and guests loved him. He was very service oriented and was comfortable talking with guests and meeting their needs at events."
At the celebration of Williams' life on Sunday, many of his friends and co-workers gathered to reminisce about him and share their memory of good time with Alan. "He didn't want any sort of funeral service," said Prouty. "He donated his body to the University of Vermont College of Medicine so that they could research cancer and maybe somehow they could help the next person down the line a little bit. That's the kind of person he was. He always thought of other people besides himself first really."
"He was a private person but cared deeply for all," said Glidden.
Williams started working at the College in 1992, first in dining supervising in Proctor, then in catering and in the heating plant. A hard and responsible worker, Williams was known to be perpetually positive and smiling, a man who tried to become a true friend to everyone he met. "He enjoyed working with co-workers," said Kit Quesnel, commons dining room manager. "He encouraged workers to succeed."
"He was one of those people that had a 'twinkle in his eye,'" said Catering Coordinator Mary Reed. "Alan had cancer but never lost his positive attitude. He never gave into it even right up to the end."
Born and raised in England, Williams was a very educated man who liked Shakespeare and the classics. "Sometimes he would get frustrated with us 'bloody Yanks' when we butchered the Queen's English, but he had a wonderful sense of humor," said Ed Prouty, heating plant supervisor.
"All of his co-workers enjoyed his English accent," said Reed. "We would often joke about the different words or phrases with Alan that he used that we were unaccustomed to. He always took it in the good humor it was meant."
"Alan was always telling his co-workers that he would teach them how to 'speak bloody English,'" said custodian Mary Glidden.
Additionally, Williams had a great love for the maritime, water, and spent his free time reading up on boat making. "He had a great interest in building a sailboat and had had one partially built," said Prouty.
"[Williams] loved his work with the catering service because it brought him in contact with a lot of the students," said Prouty. Williams loved sharing ideas with the students, and even, as Prouty described, "attended a lot of student government meetings."
During his two-year battle against cancer, Williams continued to work until September, "when he wasn't able to work any more," said Prouty. "That frustrated him greatly."
"He was a very dependable and reliable worker for us," said Reed. "He tended a lot of bar events during the year and guests loved him. He was very service oriented and was comfortable talking with guests and meeting their needs at events."
At the celebration of Williams' life on Sunday, many of his friends and co-workers gathered to reminisce about him and share their memory of good time with Alan. "He didn't want any sort of funeral service," said Prouty. "He donated his body to the University of Vermont College of Medicine so that they could research cancer and maybe somehow they could help the next person down the line a little bit. That's the kind of person he was. He always thought of other people besides himself first really."
"He was a private person but cared deeply for all," said Glidden.