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Williams's will, executor at odds Lawyer says slugger agreed to be frozen By Raja Mishra, Globe Staff, 7/17/2002
After talks between the three Williams children broke down yesterday, the executor of Williams's estate, Albert Cassidy, asked a judge to settle the dispute, initiating a proceeding that will publicly probe the divided family to determine what the Splendid Splinter wanted done with his remains. Williams's last will and testament, signed in 1996 and filed in a Citrus County court yesterday, seemingly detailed the depth of the family rift: His eldest daughter, Bobby-Jo Williams Ferrell, who vehemently opposes the cryonics plan, was entirely cut out of the will. His considerable estate is to be divided between his other two children, John Henry and Claudia Williams, both of whom made the decision to freeze Williams at an Arizona cryonics lab, according to Cassidy's petition to the court. However, last night, Ferrell's attorney asserted she had known of the will's provision for years and that the father and daughter remained close. Williams, he said, provided for Ferrell prior to his death. And though the decision to freeze Williams's body has brought widespread criticism from longtime Williams associates, Cassidy, one of Williams's closest friends, strongly appealed to the public to let the decision stand. ''Based on what I know and believe, after the time of his will, Ted chose to have his body preserved via cryonics,'' said Cassidy, a Winter Haven real estate developer, in a statement. ''While many people may not make the same choice for themselves, I hope people will respect this as a private family matter.'' He did not offer any indication of how he knew Williams's wishes or whether there was written documentation to back up the claim. In fact, Cassidy's remarks clashed with the blunt first article of the eight-page will, signed by Williams on Dec. 20, 1996: ''I direct that my remains be cremated and my ashes sprinkled at sea off the coast of Florida where the water is very deep.'' Faced with such conflicts, Cassidy yesterday submitted a legal motion asking a Florida judge to decide whether Williams's body should remain in cryonic preservation or be cremated. The developments came after the collapse of intensive negotiations between Ferrell, who has demanded Williams's cremation, and the other siblings. Yesterday's court filings made clear that John Henry Williams, the focus of much criticism, was not alone in ordering his father frozen on July 5. Claudia Williams, the court motion indicates, actively supported the decision to pack his body in ice just hours after death for shipment to an Arizona cryonics facility, where it is suspended upside down in a giant metal tank filled with liquid nitrogen. Lawyers for Ferrell have 20 days to respond. All parties must work with a Florida judge to schedule hearings to examine evidence, which could include still-unseen documents indicating Williams favored cryonics preservation, as well as testimony from friends and caretakers, the majority of whom have asserted that Williams often spoke about his desire for cremation. The legal proceeding will resemble a trial, complete with motions and evidence but lacking a jury. A judge will have final say, but Florida legal specialists say a judge is unlikely to overturn a valid will unless there is written documentation showing the deceased had a change of heart. So far, neither Cassidy nor John Henry and Claudia Williams have produced such documentation in favor of cryonics. Despite the legal and public relations jockeying of the past two weeks, yesterday's developments made clear that there has been little progess in resolving the dispute, which appears to stem from deep generational divisions within the Williams family. Ferrell, Williams's first-born child, made the controversy public when she revealed the cryonics plan just hours after Williams died of heart failure on July 5 at age 83. She contended that her father would never have endorsed such a plan. In his will, the Red Sox legend disinherits his 53-year-old daughter from the first of his three marriages. The will says Ferrell should be considered dead: ''I have purposely and deliberately eliminated my daughter, Barbara Joyce Ferrell, from this Will because I have provided for her during my life,'' states the will. ''It is my intent that Barbara Joyce Ferrell shall be deemed to have predeceased me leaving no issue surviving.'' Cassidy yesterday asserted that Ted Williams in his final years grew far closer to his two children from his third marriage, both more than two decades younger than Ferrell. ''I was very close to Ted, especially during the final years of his life. I know that nothing made him happier than his relationship with John Henry and Claudia,'' said Cassidy. ''I saw firsthand their devotion to their Dad, and I know that Ted would be hurt by some of the things that have been said about them. I am confident that their actions are inspired by their love for their father.'' None of the Williams children commented yesterday. Ferrell's husband, Mark, said, ''This is a very stressful ordeal for her,'' noting that Ferrell's attention has been temporarily diverted to her own daughter, who must undergo unspecified surgery today. John Henry and Claudia Williams faced their half-sister for more than eight hours Monday, as the trio attempted to find some solution that would keep the squabble out of a public court and bring an end to the embarrassing headlines. But talks broke down yesterday morning, with lawyers saying there was little ground for compromise between freezing and cremation. ''It's difficult to find middle ground in this situation,'' said John Heer, a lawyer for Ferrell. He said that Ferrell never asked to be reinstated into the will in exchange for dropping her challenge. But Robert Goldman, a lawyer for the other two siblings, said a reconciliation might still be a possibility. ''My clients, Claudia and John Henry Williams, have communicated privately with Bobby-Jo and hope to continue private discussions. We still believe the family can come together to reach a common understanding of their father's last wishes,'' he said. Both sides over the past few days have repeatedly asked for privacy, asserting that their father was a most private superstar who enjoyed the relative quiet and anonymity of his rural Florida home. But it appears that though Williams in his will asked for ''no funeral or memorial service of any kind,'' his post-death arrangements will be in the public eye for weeks to come. Raja Mishra can be reached at rmishra@globe.com
This story ran on page A1 of the Boston Globe on 7/17/2002.
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NVERNESS, Fla. - Lawyers for the estate of Ted Williams yesterday forcefully declared that the Red Sox legend wanted his body cryonically frozen despite a signed will that specified cremation, arguing that Williams later came to favor the controversial freezing procedure.