{"id":2525,"date":"2021-04-26T02:44:57","date_gmt":"2021-04-26T06:44:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/pr\/?p=2525"},"modified":"2026-07-13T22:12:24","modified_gmt":"2026-07-14T02:12:24","slug":"remembering-jesse-t-williams-sr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/scm\/remembering-jesse-t-williams-sr\/","title":{"rendered":"Remembering Jesse T. Williams Sr."},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignright size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"400\" height=\"590\" src=\"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/scm\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/219\/2021\/09\/Jesse-T.-Williams-Sr.-2012.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2526\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/scm\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/219\/2021\/09\/Jesse-T.-Williams-Sr.-2012.jpg 400w, https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/scm\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/219\/2021\/09\/Jesse-T.-Williams-Sr.-2012-203x300.jpg 203w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Alumnus, athlete, ambassador at-large<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Monday, April 26, 2021<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jesse T. Williams Sr., the personification of the school-spirit slogan \u201cHawk Pride\u201d that bonds current and future alumni to the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, died Sunday, April 25.&nbsp; He was 81.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A 1962 graduate of then-Maryland State College, Williams had a successful career in corporate America in an era when Fortune 500 companies had few Blacks in management. &nbsp;He worked for the Goodyear Tire &amp; Rubber Company, rising through the ranks to become a vice president and elected officer.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Williams cherished his alma mater&#8217;s role in shaping his life. &nbsp;After graduation, he and his wife lived in the Midwest &#8212; Illinois, Kansas, Michigan and Ohio &#8212; before settling in Delaware when he retired.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;He was a true friend to the university,&#8221; 1963 alum Melvin Hill said, &#8220;and he was a true friend of mine.&nbsp; He always loved the school, and his fellow man.&nbsp; I&#8217;m going to miss him.&#8221;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">President Heidi M. Anderson recalled &#8220;Jesse Williams was one of the first alums I met upon my arrival in September 2018. He epitomized Hawk Pride with his unwavering &nbsp;dedication to his alma mater.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;In my short tenure as president,&#8221; Anderson said, &#8220;I &#8230; cherished my conversations with Jesse and his wise counsel.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Returning to Delmarva afforded Williams an opportunity to visit his beloved UMES often.&nbsp; At 6-feet 8-inches, he was not difficult to spot.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cSeeing Jesse walk on campus was like seeing a mighty oak move with grace, power and strength,\u201d said Dr. James White, president of UMES&#8217; National Alumni Association.\u00a0 \u201cHis stature loomed large, and his shadow was warm and covering.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignleft size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/pr\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2021\/09\/Jesse-T.-Williams-class-of-1962.jfif\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2527\"\/><\/figure><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Alumnus, athlete, ambassador at-large Monday, April 26, 2021 Jesse T. Williams Sr., the personification of the school-spirit slogan \u201cHawk Pride\u201d that bonds current and future alumni to the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, died Sunday, April 25.&nbsp; He was 81.&nbsp; A 1962 graduate of then-Maryland State College, Williams had a successful career in corporate America&#8230;<span class=\"cpschool-read-more-link-holder\"><a class=\"btn btn-basic cpschool-read-more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/scm\/remembering-jesse-t-williams-sr\/\">Read more <span class=\"sr-only\">Remembering Jesse T. Williams Sr.<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2526,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[103],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-2525","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/scm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2525","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/scm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/scm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/scm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/scm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2525"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/scm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2525\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/scm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2526"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/scm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2525"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/scm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2525"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/scm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2525"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/scm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=2525"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}