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Williams's daughter urges respect for privacy
By Raja Mishra and Michele Kurtz, Globe Staff, 7/15/2002
''This is a time for our family to come together to support each other. Please respect our family's privacy and the difficult decisions we must make during this time as we do our best to honor my father's wishes,'' said Claudia Williams, 30, in a statement released yesterday through a Lynnfield-based public relations firm. In the past week, she has stayed by brother John Henry Williams's side as he silently weathered widespread criticism and ridicule, as well as a spate of unflattering press accounts, over his decision to store his father's remains in a deep freeze at an Arizona cryonics warehouse in hopes that advanced medicine would someday revive him. ''Some media accounts over the last few days have been terribly hurtful, and simply not true,'' she said, calling for family reconciliation. ''Our family's actions in the days since my father's passing have been motivated by our abiding love and devotion for our father, and our grief and anguish at his passing.'' She did not specifically endorse her brother's decision to ship Williams's body to Arizona for freezing, or the effort of her sister, Bobby-Jo Williams Ferrell, to have his body cremated. Williams Ferrell, 53, the Hall-of-Fame ballplayer's eldest child, has loudly protested the decision to freeze his body, asserting that her father indicated orally and in writing that he desired cremation. Yesterday she reiterated her concerns in a response to her half-sister: ''We appreciate the tone of the written statement issued on behalf of Claudia Williams, but we are still waiting for Ted Williams's wishes to be carried out,'' Ferrell said in a statement. Attempts to reach John Henry Williams were unsuccessful yesterday. Today is the deadline for the public filing of Williams's will at a Florida courthouse. But lawyers for his estate may request an extension while they prepare additional legal motions to defend John Henry Williams's decisions against Ferrell's accusations. After the court papers are filed, it will be up to a Florida judge to sort through the documents from Williams's estate to determine the baseball legend's intended final resting place. In a will, Williams indicated that he wanted cremation, lawyers for Ferrell have said. However, the Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Alcor Life Extension Foundation - where Williams's body is suspended upside down in a large metal tank filled with liquid nitrogen - requires all of its clients to complete paperwork authorizing the deep freezing of their remains. Williams presumably signed such documents. Finally, lawyers for John Henry Williams have indicated they would present documents showing he had the legal authority to have his father's remains shipped to the Arizona facility for freezing. If a judge cannot reach a decision based on documents alone, Florida law allows for a court hearing to be held in which testimony about the deceased's intent can be taken. Several of Williams's former caretakers have said he repeatedly asked to be cremated. Many of Williams's former teammates and longtime buddies agreed. The feud has dimmed tributes to the batting star, the controversy supplying ample material for talk shows and late-night comedians. It appears unlikely that the dispute over Williams's remains will be resolved by the July 22 Fenway Park tribute to the Splendid Splinter, considered by many to be the greatest hitter in baseball history. Yesterday, Claudia Williams asked the public to concentrate on Williams's life rather than the controversy. ''He touched so many lives as a baseball player and sportsman, as someone who proudly served his country, and as someone who worked to help sick children. That is how people should remember him,'' she said. Claudia Williams has been a silent figure throughout this bizarre episode, which has focused on John Henry Williams's deeds and Ferrell's accusations. The youngest child of Williams is a nursing home worker who long has shied away from the spotlight. She forged a close bond with her father in his declining years, often stopping by his nearby home here to give him baths and massages. Claudia and John Henry Williams, 33, were children of Williams's third marriage, while Ferrell came from his first. The Red Sox slugger was close to Ferrell during his playing days and close to his other two children in his final decade, as stroke and heart troubles turned the powerful athlete into a feeble man in a wheelchair. During those years, John Henry Williams handled all of Williams's business and personal matters, aggressively selling memorabilia signed by his father while nursing him through numerous health battles. Williams died July 5 at age 83. Since their father died, Claudia and John Henry have been staying together at his house. But the two have also been embroiled in a legal dispute of their own that predated Williams's death. In May, John Henry sued his sister over her plans to sell $1.3 million in autographed baseball bats. He asserted that he has the first option to buy the merchandise. In the legal dispute that could spill into the open today over Williams's remains, only the specifics of the case are peculiar, attorneys said. Battles over estates and wills are frequent, especially in Florida, with its large population of senior citizens. Multiple wills are not uncommon, specialists said, and judges must often strain to determine the true intent of the deceased amid often-bitter squabbling among heirs. Often the disputes begin with a struggle over a burial or memorial service. ''There's always been opportunity for disagreement among loved ones as to how the remains should be disposed of,'' said Boston probate attorney Brian D. Bixby, ''ranging from what cemetery it should be in, to whether it should be cremation or burial, to what references should be on the headstone, to whether organs should be donated ... In most cases there is not an adequate indication as to what the deceased really wanted.'' As in other cases where a deceased's wishes are unclear and heirs don't agree, the judge in the Williams case will probably rely on the memories of people ''who have no reason to lie,'' Bixby said. ''The caretakers' testimony is likely to be given a lot of weight.'' One lawyer who has practiced probate law in Florida agreed. ''You've got to presume the judge is going to ... discount both children's statements pretty significantly,'' said Jeffrey Baskies, president at Lawyers Weekly USA, a newspaper for law firms, and now a Beverly resident. ''Who knows what's motivating them.''
This story ran on page A1 of the Boston Globe on 7/15/2002.
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NVERNESS, Fla. - The most reticent of Ted Williams's three children yesterday broke her silence over the Red Sox legend's unusual post-death arrangements, insisting the family has been trying to follow her father's intentions, despite a bitter sibling feud that could spill into a Florida courtroom today.