[Deathwatch] John Henry Williams, celebrity son, 35

[Deathwatch Central <cdw@slick.org>]

Thanks to a reader for this one.  I think John Henry Williams is now
considered celebrity based on the news coverage recently.  - Ed.

Ted Williams' Son John Henry Dies at 35
Mon Mar 8
By GREG SUKIENNIK, Associated Press Writer

BOSTON - John Henry Williams, the son of Hall of Famer Ted Williams who
pushed to have his father's body frozen, died late Saturday of leukemia
in a hospital in Los Angeles, an attorney for Ted Williams' family
said. He was 35.

Peter Sutton said Williams died at UCLA Medical Center with family
members at his bedside. Sutton said sister Claudia Williams and Eric
Abel, an attorney for John Henry Williams, informed him of the death by
phone.

Williams had been battling leukemia for months. In December, he
underwent a bone marrow transplant, using a donation from Claudia, his
youngest sister.

"On behalf of all of us with the Boston Red Sox, we extend our
condolences to the John Henry Williams family," Red Sox principal owner
John W. Henry said. "Perhaps no person meant more to the history of the
Boston Red Sox than did his father, and it was clear that his father's
life and legacy were the focal point of John Henry Williams' life.

"It is particularly sad that leukemia claimed his life, for his father
was a pioneer in the development of the Jimmy Fund, which has made such
remarkable progress in the fight against cancer."

Ted Williams' brother, Danny Williams, also died of leukemia, at the
age of 39.

After Ted Williams died in July 2002, John Henry Williams had his
father's body taken to an Arizona cryonics lab for freezing. He and
Claudia Williams said they signed a handwritten pact with their father
in 2000 agreeing their bodies would be frozen.

They were sued by their half-sister, Bobby-Jo Ferrell, who insisted Ted
Williams wanted to be cremated. Ferrell dropped her objections in
December 2002.

Ted Williams finished with a .344 career average and was the last major
leaguer to bat over .400, when he hit .406 in 1941.

John Henry Williams made an attempt in the past two seasons to follow
in his father's footsteps, playing for some low-level minor league and
independent baseball teams.

Williams said in October that he had been diagnosed with acute
myelogenous leukemia that month at UCLA Medical Center. He said at the
time that he had already started chemotherapy.

About 10,500 new cases of acute myelogenous leukemia are diagnosed each
year in the United States, with remission occurring in 70-80 percent of
those patients.

A spokeswoman at UCLA Medical Center could not immediately confirm
whether John Henry Williams was a patient there.

Sutton, the Williams family lawyer, declined comment when asked if John
Henry Williams had still intended to pursue cryonics for himself. A
message left for Joe Waynick, the CEO of Alcor Life Extension
Foundation in Scottsdale, Ariz., was not immediately returned. Alcor
reportedly has Ted Williams' body, although the company has not
confirmed that.

A phone number for Claudia Williams could not be located. A message
left at a listing for Abel in Hernando, Fla., was not immediately
returned.