A Tribute to Danny Williams, who passed away April 22

Danny Wiliams passed away at noon today. He had been in the hospital a couple weeks with first appendicitis and then kidney failure. He passed away today. He was (I think) 70 years old. He is survived by his wife Juia and two daughters/sons-in-law and I think one grandchild. It is is the end of an era and he will be missed. He was a uniqe individual, to say the least. And a BCSC Icon! And we had a wonderful time with him at the 1999 Camp Reunion. I look forward to seeing him again at the "glorious reunion" in the presence of our Lord. For those who want to send a note/card the address is: Julia Williams 605 E. Matthews P.O. Box 901 Sesser,IL 62884 (from Sandi Heston Rinderer)

From Mike Heston: I first met Dan at Bond Camp in 1960 and he has remained my best friend ever since. We did many outrageous, incredible, and mischievous things, some of which are difficult to believe. We were once almost thrown in Jail in Birmingham, Alabama. Later, deploying pseudo titles of Dr. Dan Williams and Dr. J. Michael Heston at the Milligan College booth at the North American Christian Convention, we subsequently found ourselves invited to the dedication of their new library—which we attended. In 1964 we were asked to be the judges for the annual talent rally in Lincoln, Illinois. We finagled it to insure that Gilbert Schreiber’s Fortville, Indiana float (which consisted of a pick-up truck with kids in the back and poster board taped to the door panels with the name of the church scribbled on it) to receive fourth place. Schreiber had not intended to have a float, but on the way to Lincoln the kids decided that they wanted one. Gilbert was humiliated at the thought of having such a sorry entry—a fact he made the error of sharing with Dan and Me. He was dumfounded when he got fourth place. Over the years Dan and I were thrown out of two Bible Colleges, one church camp, the St. Louis Planetarium, and the Fox theater. The summer before Virginia and I were married, we were driving around on the Illinois side of the river, when I mentioned to her that my best friend lived just a few miles from where we were. I asked if she would like to meet him. She said she certainly would. As fate would have it, there was a tent revival going on in a lot next to Danny’s place. We attended and made, I should think, quite a nuisance of ourselves—Dan and I, that is. Comments were made about us by the evangelists and soon four “bouncers” gathered behind us (we were on the back row). Virginia later commented: “I really had to wonder what I was getting myself into after that night.” Above all, Dan was a wonderful friend and very devoted believer. We talked by phone almost every week and I will miss not getting those calls. My secretary would frequently buzz me and say that a Mr: Mark Weaver; Clarence Bazzell; Byron E. Smith; Robert H. Kinney; Fred Bennyhoff; or the chief of police of Birmingham, Alabama, et. al., would like to speak to you. Needless to say, I knew who was on the other end of the line. I’ll miss those calls, and so will my secretary—even though she never met Dan.

Please add your memories of Danny Williams to the comments as a tribute to the fine and fun influence he had on all of us during those earliest camp years.