[Nhcoll-l] Passing of Stephen L. Williams

[John E Simmons]

This is profoundly sad news. Steve was, in many ways, the heart and soul of
SPNHC, and he devoted countless hours and many years of service to the
organization. I first met Steve in Toronto at the 1985 meeting where the
idea for SPNHC was born, and got to know him when he was an instructor for
the first Collections Care Pilot Training Program the following year. Steve
was a very generous person, always willing to help others. I treasure the
many long talks we had about collections management and museum studies in
particular and about life in general. He provided much appreciated career
advice and wise counsel. His greatest impact was probably as a teacher of
museum studies students and as a devoted family man. His ready smile and
his kind words will be greatly missed by everyone who knew him.

--John

John E. Simmons
Museologica
128 E. Burnside Street
Bellefonte, Pennsylvania 16823-2010
simmons.johne at gmail.com
303-681-5708
*and*
Adjunct Curator of Collections
Earth and Mineral Science Museum & Art Gallery
Penn State University
University Park, Pennsylvania
*and*
Instructor, Museum Studies
School of Library and Information Science
Kent State University

On Fri, Aug 3, 2018 at 5:34 PM, Revelez, Marcia (CDC/OPHSS/CSELS/DLS) <
mte8 at cdc.gov> wrote:

> It is with profound sadness that I share the shocking news of the passing
> of our dear friend, Stephen L. Williams.  He was the prototype for the
> Collection Manager and he had such a strong impact on how we manage natural
> history collections today - he helped define the museum professional.  His
> body of work includes over 130 publications, nearly 100 of those
> contributing to the body of knowledge about collections care and
> management.  He was a native west Texan from Midland (where my family is
> from).  He received undergraduate and master’s degrees in biology as well
> as another master’s in Museum Science at Texas Tech University.   His
> career included positions at the Natural Science Research Laboratory at
> Tech, Carnegie Museum, and Strecker Museum at Baylor (now the Mayborn).  He
> was a great mammalogist too and he combined the best of field research,
> mammal systematics, taxonomy, and broke ground on research pertaining to
> collections.
>
>
>
> He was a strong family man, and the video at the end of his obituary can
> attest to that.  We will miss you Steve.  Rest well.
>
> Obituary link: https://www.lakeshorefuneralhome.com/dr-stephen-l-williams/
> . The funeral was today in Waco, TX.  In lieu of flowers, donations may be
> made to Dup15q Alliance (https://dup15q.networkforgood.com/projects/
> 43843-support-the-dup15q-alliance-mission).
>
>
>
>
>
> When I traveled to my first SPNHC meeting and met him as a young
> professional – I felt like I was meeting the Father of Collections
> Management – and maybe he was.  I still remember stalking him and wanting
> to talk to him and learn as much as I could about his history and
> contributions – what a privilege.  He was always encouraging and supportive
> and of course we had our Texas bond.  I always thought that if you are a
> collections manager in mammalogy – there isn’t much that you do that didn’t
> originate from him.  My fondest memories will be all of those conversations
> but most of all dancing with him at those SPNHC banquets.
>
>
>
> Please feel free to use this email string to share memories of Steve.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> *Marcy Revelez*
>
> Collections Manager and Acting Team Lead, CDC Biorepository
>
> U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
>
> [image: NEW approved logo-CMYK]
>
>
>
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>
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