I was Charles' clinical social worker for many years at Moffitt. I gave him a hard time, and he gave me a hard time, and we shared many moments of laughter and sorrow. Sharing those years with this gifted and compassionate man will always be one of the things I treasure in my life.

It is so difficult to realize that Charlie has been done for 3 years. I remember clearly awakening to the early morning news that Charlie had been killed in an awful car accident.  
I had worked with Charlie for years at Moffitt which was always a joy and I always walked away with more knowledge than when I walked up to him.
The world has lost one great individual as physician and teacher. Fran an and hope that Deb and his children are doing well.

I was an oncologist in Naples and shared a number of patients with Dr Williams in the course of second opinions and referrals to clinical trials. He was a fine, compassionate physician and a real gentleman.

2  years ago, Dr. Williams died, remembering Charles today and always; wonderful service at  the church.  The gospel song at the end was uplifting (anyone  know the name of the song?)   and Charles Taylor, MD eulogy was a bulls eye.  
Daniel Morris, MD

I am the first cousin of Dr. Williams, grew up with him as children and stunned of his sudden accident in 2018. My sister Pat Oliver Bell saw a neighbor of the family that lived in his hometown at a conference in Knoxville, TN Feb.29, 2020 and he told her the news.
We are in shock the family have our deepest sympathy.
1 st Cousin's Annette and Pat

After all these months I am just able to compose myself to write a few words.
Dr.Williams is responsible for me ,God willing, to celebrate my 81st birthday in a few months. WE WERE FRIENDS not just Physician and Patient.

I didn't know him but read the article about him. I am really sorry to read this terrible news. What a great man. So caring, smart and well loved. Rest in peace Sir. Condolences to his family during this very difficult time.

I was so sad to hear the news.
I had Amanda in my preschool class at Lake Carroll and kept both girls at my home when their parents went to a few  medical conventions. It breaks my heart that they have lost both parents. But I also know they were very blessed to have parents like Charlie and Faye. I remember how Faye would explain things to the girls. She was so kind , calm and understanding. 
I also remember having dinner at their home one night. It was a home filled with love. You could just feel it.   There was a beautiful wooden wall unit in their living room that Charlie had built. It was amazing and you could see the pride.
In all my years at the school  and all the families I met The William's were such a beautiful family and so giving and kind.
My thoughts will be with Amanda and Sara.  Love you

     Dr. Williams saved my life after I was diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer.  I have traveled to Tampa from the east coast of Florida over the last 13 years for follow-ups and checkups.  I immediately liked and respected him when we first met in November 2005.  Compassion was written all over his face; the tone of his voice commanded attention to his knowledge and skill.  

     Our numerous but brief encounters always left me wishing I could know him better and spend more time with him.  Everything I am reading in these tribute messages tells me I was correct.  I saw those large brown eyes and his big smile and always wondered what he was thinking but I knew it was kind and caring.  I witnessed his great sense of humor and love for a good joke!  I cannot recall a time he did not have a smile on his face even if he tried to conceal it! 

     The demise of lung cancer is so much closer because of Dr. Williams.  He will be missed by all of us.  My heart goes out to Deborah and his daughters.


I remember Charles from Sunday mornings at Greenwood Missionary Baptist Church in Tuskegee Institute, Alabama. Though older than I, he sang in the Youth Choir at the church with my sisters and they made the best music! Hearing of his "Home Going" left an emptiness in my heart ... I'm glad God allowed us to know him and his Tuskegee Family. Sincerely ... The George Graham Family of Tuskegee

  The news of Charlie's death is very painful.  I call him Charlie because I knew him long before he became a physician.  We were assigned as roommates our first year in medical school in Pittsburgh,  and  wound up rooming together all 4 years there.  We then moved to Tampa together for internship,  residency, and fellowship.  We met our wives together, and started to raise our families together.  It is one of the great honors and joys of my life to have known him.  He would do anything for a friend.  One freezing night in Pittsburgh my car was stolen,  and Charlie spent the night  driving around in his beat up old volkswagon beetle  helping me search for it.  He supported me through some tough stretches in medical school and training.  he had a great sense of humor  and I never saw him great angry,  even when he had a right to be.   Charlie stayed on the faculty of a medical school because of his deep desire to help his patients  , but also to possibly find cures that would help so many more  . Charlie was a very very important person in my life,  as I am  sure he was in the lives of many others.  I am a much better person for having known him,  and hopefully will smile soon  knowning that although he is gone,  he had a life  well well lived,    I was blessed  to have been his friend.

Dear Deb and family,  Ed and I were overwhelmed and saddened out here in Arizona to hear of Charlie's untimely death last week.  He was a wonderful man and caring physician;  I was privileged to help care for his first wife, Faye, when she was our patient.  Charlie cared for his patients with great compassion.  I will always remember his eyes lighting up and that special smile that came across his face when we met in the hallways of Moffitt.   I've so enjoyed following all the pictures and stories of Charlie's and your adventures over the years since my departure from Moffitt through Robert's stories and photographs of your travels.   I hurt especially for you, Deb, and for his daughters.   I know he loved you dearly.   In the toughest times, our faith is tested most.  May you be strengthened in knowing that your family and friends love you and hurt for you.  God loves you and may He restore your spirt and give you peace.  Love, Brenda and Ed

I knew Charlie well over the many years I was his clinical social worker at Moffitt.  No physician exceeded his caring, expertise, good judgement, sense of humor, and ability to support his patients and families. He will be missed, and my heart goes out to his two daughters and Deborah, his brother and other family members.  We were fortunate to be blessed with his presence  among us.

Charles and I first met when he was. Medical Resident at USF and I was on the Faculty over 40 years ago.  I immediately liked and respected him. We shared “peculiar “ senses of humor! That was an unbreakable bond. Charley was a wise and understanding and compassionate person. It was a pleasure to know him and work occasionally with him. He shall be missed. 

Dear Deb, Amanda and Sarah,
My sincere sympathies on the loss of your beloved husband and father.  Charles, Charlie or Dr. Williams.....he was truly a wonderful human being, devoted husband, father and grandfather and dedicated oncologist.  
I once told him there will be a special place in heaven waiting for him because he chose to dedicate his career in caring for people diagnosed with lung cancer.  A disease that sadly has too few success stories.  Yet he humbly, patiently, calmly and tenderly cared for so many over the past 30 years. 
I imagine Charles looking down on all of us and shaking his head over all the “fuss” we are making going on about him.......being in the spotlight was not to his liking at all.  He was a man of great character, integrity, and humility that was served up with a wicked sense of humor.  To a life well lived, may Charles C. Williams rest in eternal peace, in his well earned special place in heaven.
My prayers that the love and support of family and friends provide each of you with some comfort during this difficult time.
Mary Kay

I will always be grateful that God placed Charles Williams & his wife, Deb Simanteris in our lives as we faced that most difficult journey of our lives.  Charles led the oncology team that treated & fought for my wife Marcy as if she were family.   Fear & sickness ever present, still somehow we always seemed to look forward to seeing each of them.  Their kindness to our then young children also ever present.  Such a difficult time, but God in our view, used them as His conduits to us to make the journey more bearable.  I will never forget either of them.  My prayers are with Deb...

so sorry for your loss every time I saw Charlie in publix  I always asked about Amanda and Sara and we would talk about the times we all spent at the softball games and how much fun we had . and missy said every time they were at the house he would tell them to leave money as they were eating all the food


Dear Deb & MOFFITT Family:
I too have a VERY HEAVY broken heart right now- I worked very closely w/Charlie for almost 12 years! He was ONE in A MILLION- “old school doc” TRUE patient advocate; every patient got HIS BEST and then some! ❤️
He was a very very special Man. Compassion was written ALL over his persona. The tone of his voice, commanded your attention to his knowledge, skill(s), sense of Humor & Grace!
I remember him as one of our Softball Coaches, at Temple Terrace Little League ..such a terrific man/coach! i so enjoyed his compassion for the girls and the game of Softball!
Please know of my prayers and hope for a tranquil transition in all our hearts soon. The Love and Light of Christ, will welcome him Home!
He WILL BE Dearly missed by MANY 🙏🏻✝️❤️

Our deepest condolences to the Williams family.  This wonderful Physician will be missed amidst our presence at H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center . His warm  smile and excellent service was always appreciated. 
Patients and staff are heartbroken here.  May Dr. Williams  RIP:  Heaven has a new angel !  Our prayers and sympathy to family, friends and patients .  
with Love from the Enterostomal Therapy Clinic nurses :  Rhonda Musgrove , Nancy Scott & Amy Beightel 

Deb;
Words can not take away your pain and sense of loss, I always enjoyed being around Charles. Charles had a dry sense of humor and I can never recall a time he did not have a smile on his face.  
The Moffitt family has truly lost a wonderful member.
J. J.


I just finished reading Dan Morris' s beautiful message and was flooded with memories of having been privileged to have worked with all of the doctors he mentioned.  Back in1983 I arrived in Tampa and was hired as the practice nurse for the original USF/VA medical oncology group.  At that time there were only 3 doctors in that group and Charlie was one of them.  As we grew over the years, moved to Moffitt, added doctors and nurses, I continued to be privileged to hold the position as "Dr. Williams nurse".  For almost 20 years we worked side by side and I was constantly impressed with his knowledge, his ability to use his dry sense of humor so effectively with his patients, but most of all to give hope and comfort to those he cared for and to their families.  Through the years he would deny that those children who lived in his house were his but there was never any doubt of his deep love for Amanda and Sarah and for his grandchildren.  To have seen Charlie and Faye together was to see first hand the deep love they had together, which was never more evident than during her battle with cancer.  I will be ever grateful for the place this man held in my life and for the privilege of working with him.

Continued.

I have not seen Dr. Williams' children since they were amazing and darling children.     Their mother and his first wife Faye, deceased some  years ago, was terrific, though sadly her death resulted in  Dr. Williams being  a young widower.    Charlie and Faye were a bi-racial couple, before it was accepted, and I looked up to both of them for it; the extraordinary beauty of their children was a testament to the union and marriage of Charlie and Faye.

Who of us could have thought we would be celebrating the life of this man at this time, and in this sudden way.    Dr. Williams was the beginning of an era in medical progress and social progress, and took the torch on both fronts to great heights and new places.   He left so many many people with significant memories of a personality style that was all his own.

Sincerely,

Daniel J. Morris, MD
Naples, Florida


I have known Dr.  Charlie Williams, for 30+ years;  he did not change, a friendly grin, and an uplifting spirit from the start.      He was my colleague and friend, and though I left Moffitt many years ago (1991), I continued to see and talk with  Dr. Williams at various medical meetings over the years.  

In some ways, he was an enigma, and I wondered what he was thinking behind his large brown eyes, and his big smile.    I've wondered about his life journey, from Tuskalooga,  Alabama, to medical school in Pittsburgh.     And his biblical middle name Canaan....he would change the subject if you brought it up.   

Dr. Williams entered oncology when it was a very unpopular field; we had few tools and not much know how; we did not have drugs to prevent nausea and vomiting and did not have growth factors to prevent infections.    .....like flying without radar in a thunderstorm, or landing an aircraft without landing gear.     Charlie Williams was one of the Wright Brothers of oncology. 

Charlie had amazing stamina, tolerance, and staying power.   He is the only one of the original medical oncology faculty who was still there, with the rest us having long left the institution (Dr. Lyman, Dr. Schapira, Dr. Spiers (deceased), Dr. Dinwoodie, soon to be joined by Dr. Balducci.)   Charlie Williams outlasted us all at Moffitt.    He outlasted numerous Moffitt directors.   However, he also outlasted most doctors of medical oncology;  Charlie was still working at age 70, when many others 'burn out,' though his candle continued to shine.

I remember hearing women say that they thought he was very handsome;  a long time ago, in the 1990s, before Moffitt opened, I remember hearing about a patient who left all of his belongings in his will to Dr. Williams;   as I recall it was an assortment of sort...a mobile home, an old car.....modest belongings and a lot of love.    He had to figure out how to get out of that inheritance.  

To be Continued.  




I was lucky enough to know Charlie when I first arrived at Moffitt in 1989.  He was a very special man who loved his family and friends and was devoted to his work.   Though his overwhelming kindness, dedication, and gentle spirit endeared him to all, it will his sense of humor that will forever bring joy and hope to those of us that were fortunate enough to know him.  He truly will be missed.  

I worked  with Dr Williams at Moffitt Cancer Center from 1990-1995 in the thoracic onolcogy clinic. Dr Williams was a kind and respectful man towards his patients and colleagues. I am deeply saddened by his passing and extend my sincere condolences to his family. 

Charles and I attended the same elementary school, high school and church.  He was a very handsome, quiet and studious young man.   It has been many years since he's been home (Tuskegee, AL), but he will be missed by many.

I wish to give my condolence to the Williams  Family. May you be reassured of the promise that God will bring Charles   back to be "Enlightened with the light of the living" (Job 33:30) May this bring you comfort and peace.

OBITUARY

Charles C. Williams Jr.

October 9, 1947 – March 28, 2018

Blount & Curry Funeral Home at Garden of Memories

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