[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 193 (Thursday, November 12, 2020)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1016]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





              REMEMBERING THE HONORABLE JAMES R. WILLIAMS

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. TIM RYAN

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, November 12, 2020

  Mr. RYAN. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the life of James R. 
Williams, the first African American to serve as a Summit County, Ohio 
Common Pleas judge and a longtime Akron civic and civil rights leader, 
who passed away on Friday, November 9, 2020, at the age of 88.
  Judge Williams was an Akron Municipal Court judge, a member of Akron 
City Council, and in 1978 was appointed by President Jimmy Carter as 
U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Ohio. He was appointed to 
Akron Municipal Court in 1983, and then in 1989 became Summit County's 
first Black Common Pleas Court judge, subsequently twice winning 
reelection to the bench.
  He was a civil rights leader who was an officer with the Akron and 
Ohio NAACP branches and other organizations. He was a University of 
Akron alumnus and a former president of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity 
that, while he was a member, pioneered housing for low- to moderate-
income residents and seniors.
  Judge Williams was the principal founder and first chairman of Alpha 
Phi Alpha Homes Inc., a nonprofit housing, development and management 
corporation formed in 1966 in Akron by the Eta Tau Lambda chapter of 
Alpha Phi Alpha.
  James, a native of Columbus, Mississippi, moved to Ohio following 
active service with the U.S. Army. He also taught in Akron Public 
Schools and was a senior staff member for Akron's Department of 
Planning and Urban Development. He retired as common pleas judge in 
January 2005, after 15 years on the bench.
  Judge Williams was preceded in death by his first wife, Catherine. He 
is survived by his wife, Jewell Cardwell-Williams; two children, 
Michael, a former Akron City Council member, and Jacqueline Walton; and 
four grandchildren.
  The Honorable James R. Williams was truly a revered figure in Summit 
County and Northeast Ohio. Anyone who knew Judge Williams saw him as a 
man of deep integrity and a man that carried a strong commitment to 
community. I cannot thank James enough for his service to our country 
and his service to Akron and Summit County. My deepest condolences go 
out to the Williams family and to all whose lives were touched by 
James.

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