Michael Phillip Williams

1972 - 2025

Michael Phillip Williams

October 20, 1972 - May 20, 2025

Knoxville, Tennessee - Michael Phillip Williams, formerly of Charlotte, died in his sleep May 20, 2025. Mike had been fighting pneumonia.

Michael was born October 20, 1972 in Northeast Ohio, the youngest in a family of eight children. There were 23 years between Mike and the eldest, so he had lots of "extra" mothers and fathers. His vocabulary, sense of humor, and debate skills developed early as a result of being around siblings that were nearly all at least ten years older than he was. He brought much laughter and fun to the family.

Mike graduated from Provident High School in 1990. He took a variety of classes at CPCC while tending bar at the Olive Garden in Pineville. He remained lifelong friends with several coworkers. He then joined his brother-from-another-mother, Marc Woodward, at LeafGuard, progressing from salesman to national production manager, to general manager of several branches, and finally as the regional manager of the southwestern United States, based in Knoxville.

Although Mike never had children of his own, he had a way with kids, and soon became a favorite with many nieces and nephews, both blood relations and honorary. In addition to teasing and easy horseplay, "Fun-cle" Mike invented special rituals, like taking his Cincinnati nieces, Quinn and Rhys, along with their friends the Snyder girls, out for Wendy's French fries, dipped in a chocolate Frosty. He was not known as a foodie.

A devoted Pittsburgh Steelers fan as a child who would cry when they lost, Michael soon became a rabid Ohio State Buckeyes fan who couldn't stand to hear the word "*ichigan." He even did play-by-play of games over Messenger for his cousin Emi in Japan. He delighted family and friends with his mimicry skills, especially of the various characters in "Monty Python and the Holy Grail." His family considered making his epitaph "Tis but a scratch!", but decided he could stand to be classed up a bit, so instead used a quote from Rudyard Kipling's poem "If," Michael's favorite.

In addition to his many bereaved friends, Michael leaves behind siblings Brian of Houston, Barbara (Sharif) Aboushahba of Orlando, Dane of Cincinnati, Carolyn of Cody, WY, Holly of Fort Mill, SC, and Patrick (Debbie) of Orlando. His parents, Dane and Mary Jayne, and sister Jeanne predeceased him. His many nieces, nephews, great-nieces, and cousins mourn him along with his brothers and sisters.

A memorial service will be held at Holy Comforter Church, 2701 Park Road in Charlotte, at 2 p.m. Saturday, May 31, with a reception to follow at the church. We invite all Mike's friends to come meet his family, grieve with us, and share some of your Michael stories.

Interment will be in a private ceremony in Niles, Ohio. In lieu of flowers, please make memorial gifts to Levine Children's Hospital in Charlotte, or the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Charlotte.