Family Feud Over Ted Williams Body
Baseball Hall of Fame recipient's death results in feud over his final wishes
July 16, 2002 -- The family feud over Ted Williams' body deepened Tuesday
when his Will showed that he wanted to be cremated, but the executor of his estate
said the slugger later decided to be frozen, reports the Associated Press.
Williams, in his Will filed and made public Tuesday, said he wanted his ashes
"sprinkled at sea off the coast of Florida where the water is very deep."
But after he wrote his Will on Dec. 20, 1996, the Hall of Famer expressed a desire
to have his body frozen, according to Albert Cassidy.
"After the time of his Will, Ted chose to have his body cryonically preserved,"
Cassidy said. He presented no documents to support his statement and refused to
say how he knew of Williams' wish to be frozen. Along with the Will, Cassidy
filed a petition asking a judge that Williams' body remain in a cryonics lab in
Arizona.
The conflict between Williams' Will and his later wishes came hours after his
three children admitted they failed to resolve a stalemate over their father's remains,
perhaps setting the stage for a contentious court battle over the Will.
Bobby-Jo Williams Ferrell "remains convinced that her father's last wishes were
to be cremated and to have his ashes spread over the deep waters off the coast of
Florida," said Richard Fitzpatrick, an attorney for Ferrell, Williams' oldest daughter.
John Henry Williams and Ferrell, his half sister, have been fighting over their
father's remains since the Boston Red Sox great died July 5 at age 83.
John Henry Williams had the body flown to Alcor Life Extension Foundation in
Scottsdale, Ariz., to be frozen, against the wishes of Ferrell. A lawyer for
John Henry Williams said in a statement he believed family members could still reach
an understanding and that the siblings hoped to arrive at a private resolution.
Tim Hewson, CEO of LegalWills.ca explained how the feud over the body of
Ted Williams has implications for all of us. "The ethical questions in this case
are derived from the potential value of Ted Williams' DNA and the prospect of profiteering
from his death, but there is a more fundamental question of respecting the dying
wishes of Ted Williams himself. The fact of the matter is that although his Will
states that he wished to be cremated, nobody really knows what he wanted. Ted Williams
did have a Will, but, as is often the case, his Will was written over five years
ago; many cryonics services were not even available then."
Hewson goes on to say "Updating a Will can be an onerous task, particularly as
one becomes more senior. It usually makes sense to keep one's
funeral wishes separate from one's
Will, as we do here at LegalWills.ca. It also pays
to review one's Will and funeral
wishes on a regular basis. Fortunately, at LegalWills.ca we allow unlimited
updates at no additional charge. In the meantime, we at LegalWills.ca pass on
our condolences to the Williams family, and wish for a speedy resolution."
(From the Associated Press, Tuesday July 16, 2002)
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