Henry "Hank" Williams

I'm so very sorry to hear of your passing Hank. I will never forget the afternoon we spent together at Road America in Elkhart Lake, WIs. back in 1997. I met you in the morning when I was admiring your Cobra. You were so very proud of that car and we decided to meet later in the day and have lunch. The whole afternoon we watched the cars race but more importantly we talked about your history with cars , especially your Cobra and your friendship with Carrol Shelby. We parted later in the day and I heard from you a year later when you sent me a copy of the picture of you standing by your car. A few years later you sent a one of a kind photo that you autographed for me of your proud showing of your Cobra at Carrol's museum. I have mounted those pictures in my home office sincce 1998 and am very proud to tell anyone who sees them, what a gifted and wonderful person you were and also a great friend of mine. I'm very sure you are in God's hands in heaven now. I'll bet he lets you drive a Cobra all around whenever you want to ! I'm very sorry that I didn't write to you sooner and I have to say good bye this way. Thank you for being a great friend I will always remember you. Rest In Peace...you deserve it. Carl Rohloff, Brookfield, Wis February 2026

This is my grandfather.. my dad Michael Silva passed away many years ago so I didn't get to spend as much time as I would have loved to but the time I did get was absolutely amazing. Rest easy grandpa

Grandpa Henry Williams, Lisa Williams (myself), & Great-grandmother Gertrude Fletcher.

Henry Williams is my grandfather that I lost touch with many years ago. My father Norman Williams was his first child born in 1943 from a union with my grandmother Doris Farr from Missouri. My heart is heavy because I feel I dropped the ball & should had kept up with my grandfather. Especially after grandma Gertrude passed & I missed out on attending her services. It saddens me that my father wasn´t included in the obituary but I understand how the younger generation would not know his entire story. As I only knew my grandfather had my father & his youngest two children whom I met. RIP grandpa Henry

I met Hank at a car show in El Segundo, Santa Monica Pier and at a shop in that area. Cool Dude. Spent a long time chatting about Cobras and his experiences in that community. It was an honor. He will be missed. Hank was a good proud man. John

I met Henry at a SAAC event many years ago with my son Max, now in the USMC. Henry was so kind and loved to tell stories. My son and I spent at least an hour with Henry each time our paths crossed.

Spent many days with Hank at his home in Fontana, talking story, cleaning his cars, eating together in his kitchen, listening to his favorite Jazz music, showing is his wardrobe of racing jackets and shirts from Carroll Shelby, and just letting hank talk about family, life, the military, and cars. Literally broken hearted over this and wish I could connect with his immediate family. I have something very very valuable that Hank would like us to show them. Please reach out to us . Thank you so much and our deepest condolences.

2 pics of Hank: one with Jay Leno (pic just says "cobraday") and one at the COCOA show June 2017.

I always enjoyed seeing Hank and listening to his stories. He was always very enthusiastic and passionate-also about his Pontiac Fiero GT. He was very appreciative of a license plate that I gave him that said "if you don´t like Hank Williams, you can kiss my . He recounted a story of one time (in the 60s I believe and maybe in Chicago) where he had his roadster parked under some bleachers and someone vandalized it. I kept meaning to check up on him. Some years ago, he had a stroke that set him back a bit but he always looked in fantastic shape. How many original owners of a 64 Cobra, let alone a black man, are there-pretty unbelievable! Also, I could see the special relationship that Hank had with Carroll Shelby. Very very special.

I met Henry are many car shows over the years with his Cobra. God bless him and our condolences to his family.