Jon Williams

WILLIAMS, THE REVEREND DR. JON EDWARD, 76, of Annapolis, died January 1 at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center in Baltimore due to complications following emergency surgery in Costa Rica the previous week. He and his wife were there to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary. Dr. Williams was born May 20, 1937, in McComb, Mississippi to the late Lloyd Cruise Williams and Pearl Burris Williams. An outstanding leader, student, singer, and athlete, he graduated from Millsaps College in Jackson, Mississippi in 1959 and went on to be a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Cologne in Germany and an International Fellow at the Columbia University School of International Affairs. In 1964, Dr. Williams earned a Masters of Divinity degree from Union Theological Seminary in New York City where he was a Rockefeller Scholar. After serving for two years as Assistant Pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Levittown, New York, Dr. Williams returned to graduate school, obtaining an M.S. and a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Maryland in 1970. After earning his doctoral degree, Dr. Williams served as a Clinical Psychologist for the National Security Agency for two years where, for helping to found NSA's first employee assistance service, he earned the NSA Award for Outstanding Performance in Clinical Psychology. He later returned to NSA for several years as a contractor in their Employee Assistance Service and was on duty on 9/11/2001. From 1973 to 1993, Dr. Williams served as founder, owner, and Executive Director of Psychological Services Incorporated (PSI), an accredited counseling service with five offices and an outstanding staff of as many as twenty full and part-time therapists. For more than ten years during that time, Dr. Williams led a VA-funded program at PSI designed to provide counseling services to veterans, many of whom who had served in Vietnam. He also served as a Clinical Preceptor at the US Naval Station and US Naval Academy, providing services to military families. While at PSI, Dr. Williams' work resulted in a number of honors and accomplishments. In 1992, Dr. Williams was named a Diplomate of the American Board of Professional Psychology, an attainment of only a small percentage of psychologists recognized for excellence in their field. For helping to establish a program of assistance services for distressed psychologists, Dr. Williams received the Maryland Psychological Association Award for Psychological Services in the Public Interest. He also served for several years as National Vice-President and Director of Continuing Education of the Academy of Psychologists in Marital, Sex, and Family Therapy (predecessor to the APA division of Family Psychology.) He was a member of the American Psychological Association and of the Maryland Psychological Association for more than 40 years. He was on the staff of Anne Arundel Medical Center. In 1993, PSI was sold to Sheppard Pratt Health System of Baltimore where Dr. Williams served as as a Senior Psychologist until 1998. Since then, Dr. Williams has counseled individuals, couples, and families at the Woods Counseling Center, a ministry of Woods Presbyterian Church in Severna Park where Dr. Williams also served as a Parish Associate and a leader of the Stephen Ministry which he helped to found there in 1996. Dr. Williams was famously committed to his clients, the focus of his working life. He constantly studied his profession, devoting many hours every week reading about how to better assist the people he served. Dr. Williams' professional library is being donated to the Woods Counseling Center at Woods Memorial Presbyterian Church in order to provide a resource to the multi-disciplinary staff in their work of helping others. He and his wife traveled widely, but they most enjoyed the trips where they were accompanied by close friends. Another source of pleasure was planting flowers and delighting in their blooms. However, his greatest joy was found in spending time with his son and his wonderful family. Dr. Williams is survived by his beloved wife, Harley Harris Williams, his son, James, daughter-in-law, Sheryl, and grandchildren, Jasper and Reija, all of Duluth, Minnesota; his sister, Janice (Jack) Laws of Jackson, Mississippi; his sisters-in-law, Nancy Ann Harris of Annapolis and Angelette Korutz of Beaver, Oregon; and nieces and nephews, Jan Nance and John Laws, both of Jackson, Nancy Korutz of Beaver, Oregon, Michael Korutz of Belle Chasse, Louisiana, John Harris of Washington, D.C., Kiefer Harris of Tampa, Florida, Susan Stephens of Charlotte, North Carolina, Ann Burns of St. Joseph, Louisiana, and Edgar Butts of New York City. He was pre-deceased by his parents and his brother, James Lloyd Williams. In lieu of flowers, the family is requesting that donations be made to Woods Memorial Presbyterian Church, 611 Baltimore-Annapolis Blvd., Severna Park, Maryland 21146, or to the Salvation Army: National Headquarters, 615 Slaters Lane, P.O. Box 269, Alexandria, VA 22313-0269. A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Friday, January 10 at Woods Memorial Presbyterian Church. All who knew and cared about Dr. Williams are welcome to attend.His ashes will be immured in the columbarium in the sanctuary.