Nov. 23--A longtime funeral director in the western suburbs, Tom Williams was known not only for his mastery of the technical skills of his profession but also for the care and empathy he provided to families and friends.
"Tom had such a gift," said Christine Wedekind, a bereavement minister at St. Catherine of Siena-St. Lucy Catholic Church in Oak Park. "Over the years, he helped bury so many from our church. He was a wonderful listener, who instinctively knew what to say and how to say it. He was a gentle soul, who guided people through the rituals that help them in their grief. He was a bright light in their darkest hours."
Williams, 94, the former owner of Williams-Kampp Funeral Home in Oak Park, and later Williams-Kampp Funeral Home in Wheaton, died of natural causes on Nov. 9, in his home at St. Patrick's Residence, a senior living facility in Naperville.
The father of six for many years lived above his funeral home on Lake Street in Oak Park, where his wife assisted him in a business that was open virtually around the clock.
"It was an unusual upbringing in that we grew up learning about things most kids aren't even aware of until much later in life," said his daughter, Patty Green. "Dad did all his own embalming and mom styled the hair. If we weren't in school, or off having fun with our friends, our job was to help out around the funeral home."
Evenings were typically a juggling act for Williams, who did his best to join his family for dinners by slipping away for a few minutes as wakes were being conducted downstairs in the funeral home.
"The rules were that we couldn't make any loud noises around the dinner table and mom couldn't cook anything with too strong an aroma that might waft down the steps and into the funeral home," Green said with a laugh. "Dad would sit down and ask us all how our day went. Then he'd eat real fast so he could get back to work."
With his funeral home located just a short distance from West Suburban Hospital in Oak Park, Williams sometimes would be woken up in the middle of the night to assist families.
"It didn't matter what time it was, or how much sleep he had gotten, he'd answer the call and do what was needed of him," Green said. "Sometimes he'd just sit with people and talk and console them."
Born in Chicago and one of 12 children raised on the Far West Side, Williams learned the business from his father, the longtime owner of a funeral home on Austin Boulevard. He graduated from Quigley Prep Seminary in Chicago in 1940, then from Worsham College of Mortuary Science in Chicago in 1941.
Following mortuary school, Williams served with the U.S. Army Air Corp as a surgical technician in Ft. Myers, Fla., from 1942 to 1945. After the war, he worked for his father before opening his own funeral home in Oak Park in 1957.
In 1969, he bought C. Kampp Son Funeral Home in Wheaton, renaming both businesses Williams-Kampp Funeral Home after he moved to Wheaton in 1979. He eventually closed his Oak Park location, and gradually turned over the reins to family members at his Wheaton location.
"For years he kept coming in to help out, until he no longer could," said Green, who worked at the Wheaton funeral home. "In his mind, he never really retired."
Williams was a longtime member and former president of the Oak Park Chamber of Commerce, a former director of the Oak Park Development Corp. and on the board of directors at the National Bank of Austin (now Austin Bank of Chicago).
His first wife, Patricia, died in 1977; his second wife, Mary, in 2011.
Mr Williams' son Charlie is the owner of Drechsler, Brown Williams Funeral Home in Oak Park.
Other survivors include another daughter, Catherine Fortier; three other sons, Thomas J., Martin and John; four brothers, Harvey, Larry, Richard and Michael; two sisters, Marita Salvi and Virginia Uphues; 15 grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.
Services were held.
Joan Giangrasse Kates is a freelance reporter.
