Working in South Side steel factories, Abner Williams did something few African-Americans had the opportunity to do after World War II.
He held the position of first helper, considered in the steel manufacturing business to be the highest and most prestigious position in a factory next to a foreman or an administrator.
Mr. Williams inspected the steel for quality and controlled the temperature in the blast furnace. He was among the first African-Americans in Chicago to hold the job.
Mr. Williams, 96, died Wednesday, Feb. 2, at the William L. Dawson Nursing Home in Chicago of pneumonia and heart failure.
Born in Birmingham, Ala., Mr. Williams was one of five children. He moved to Chicago and attended Tilden High School, where he played basketball. At Tilden, Mr. Williams founded the Feather’s Athletic Social Club in 1925. The group for young African-American men competed in sports with other social clubs.
Two years later, Mr. Williams was a member of a traveling basketball team that evolved into the Harlem Globetrotters. He played center and forward, and while on the team in 1928, Mr. Williams married his wife, Alleane. She died in 1996.
His professional life is highlighted by his 33 years at the South Chicago Works of U.S. Steel Corp. He began there in 1936 and worked his way up to first helper. He oversaw the factory’s No. 2 open hearth furnace.
Along the way, Mr. Williams had 11 children–seven sons and four daughters. His children remember their parents as the foundation of their family. Their parents were two people who kept their kids’ heads on straight, they said.
“He was a person that always believed in being honest, straightforward, and be fair to everybody,” said his son Ernest. “Be forgiving. Do the right thing. For 11 children, he was proud that everyone turned out pretty well.”
His job at the steel factory meant long hours away from the family, but Mr. Williams made time to attend as many of his children’s sporting and cultural events as he could.
“He stayed on top of whatever his kids were involved with,” Ernest Williams said.
When he retired in 1969, he took up golf and became an avid player. He enjoyed traveling with his wife and made annual golfing trips to Florida.
Mr. Williams was a Woodlawn resident for more than 70 years, taking part in community events and singing in the choir at Woodlawn A.M.E. Church. In 1994, Mr. Williams and his wife were featured on Harry Porterfield’s “Someone You Should Know” segment on WLS-TV, recognizing their 68 years of marriage.
Mr. Williams was “a very large person in life, very Christian, very loving, a good friend and a gentleman,” said his youngest son, Julius.
Other survivors include daughters Frances Williams, Jean Hester, Anna Bonita Dillard and Destiny Brown; sons Abner Jr., Albert, Edward, Gerald and Ronald; 25 grandchildren; 19 great-grandchildren; and 2 great-great-grandchildren.
Services will be held at 11 a.m. Tuesday at Carter Funeral Home, 2100 E. 75th St., Chicago.
