House Bill 9063

    Florida House of Representatives - 1999                HR 9063

        By Representative Morroni






  1                         House Resolution

  2         A resolution in commemoration of Bill Williams.

  3

  4         WHEREAS, Bill Williams, former president of the

  5  Federation of Manufactured Home Owners of Florida, Inc. (FMO),

  6  a consumer advocacy association, died September 22, 1998, at

  7  his home in Deerfield Lakes, Coconut Creek, Florida, after a

  8  short battle with cancer, and

  9         WHEREAS, Mr. Williams had served as an officer of the

10  association for the past 19 years and as president of the

11  association since 1991 and was in the first year of his fourth

12  term as president when he passed away, and

13         WHEREAS, Mr. Williams was a tireless advocate on behalf

14  of manufactured and mobile home owners around the state and

15  country and lobbied and testified on their behalf in

16  legislative hearings on issues such as the insurance crisis

17  that resulted from the damage inflicted by Hurricane Andrew

18  and in congressional subcommittee hearings on the significant

19  services portion of the over-age-55 exemption to the Fair

20  Housing Law, and

21         WHEREAS, Mr. Williams also served on the Council of

22  American Building Officials Board and the National

23  Manufactured Home Advisory Council from 1992-1998, and

24         WHEREAS, before he retired in 1988, Mr. Williams served

25  as a National League umpire for 26 years, during which time he

26  served for 8 years as secretary-treasurer for the National

27  League Umpire Association, served on the Umpire Association

28  Negotiating Team, represented the Commissioner of Baseball at

29  the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, traveled with several

30  U.S.O. tours visiting military bases and hospitals, and was an

31  instructor at the Umpire Development School, and

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CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.






    Florida House of Representatives - 1999                HR 9063

    536-153A-99






  1         WHEREAS, for his many accomplishments as an umpire, Mr.

  2  Williams was inducted into the Union County Hall of Fame and

  3  the Shore Umpires Association Hall of Fame, both of New

  4  Jersey, and

  5         WHEREAS, making use of humorous anecdotes from his

  6  career in baseball also made Mr. Williams a popular spokesman

  7  for Delta Air Lines in the 1980's, and

  8         WHEREAS, in addition to his membership in the FMO, Mr.

  9  Williams was a member of the Kiwanis Club, Elks Club,

10  Toastmasters of America, and Civil War Reenactors of America,

11  and

12         WHEREAS, Mr. Williams is survived by his wife, Fran;

13  two children, William George and Diane Marie; six

14  grandchildren; and four great grandchildren, NOW, THEREFORE,

15

16  Be It Resolved by the House of Representatives of the State of

17  Florida:

18

19         That the Florida House of Representatives honors Bill

20  Williams, in memoriam, for his service and many

21  accomplishments in this state and around the country on behalf

22  of the sport of baseball, on behalf of manufactured and mobile

23  home owners, and on behalf of the airline industry.

24         BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this resolution,

25  with the Seal of the Florida House of Representatives affixed,

26  be presented to Mrs. Fran Williams as a tangible token of the

27  esteem held by the Florida House of Representatives.

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