> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.smdp.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# Santa Monica loses great community leader
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/santa-monica-loses-great-community-leader/
- Published: 2003-02-06T16:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T01:30:13.000Z
- Author: Andrew Fixmer
- Tags: Community, Santa Monica, #archive-import

*But his work must go on, supporters say*

Santa Monica lost one of its most respected community leaders early Tuesday morning, when First AME Rev. Ronald L. Williams died of a heart attack. He was 48.

Rev. Williams came to Santa Monica barely two years ago from Oregon with his family to preach at the First African Methodist Episcopal Church at 1823 Michigan Ave.

“He used to say, ‘I came from Portland to paradise,’” said Dori Williams, Rev. William’s widow. “And he meant that. He really did.”

During his short time in Santa Monica, he touched the lives of residents throughout the city.

“It’s very tragic to lose anyone, but especially someone at such a young age,” said Mayor Richard Bloom. “And it’s tragic especially because he was becoming such a fixture in the community... It’s a really sad loss for the entire community.”

Rev. Williams lent his booming voice and seemingly endless supply of energy to causes of social justice, such as the living wage movement and to support the creation of more affordable housing.

He organized walks of residents through the Pico neighborhood to take a stand against gang violence and drug activity that has long-plagued the eight-mile section of Santa Monica where he lived.

Along with other religious leaders from throughout the city and region, Rev. Williams joined hands and lead prayers to support better treatment of workers at luxury hotels and for the passage of a living wage ordinance that was defeated at the ballot box last November.

And he was a vocal supporter, along with the Martin Luther King Jr. Westside Coalition, of naming the auditorium of the new Santa Monica Main library after the celebrated civil rights leader.

“He was a very special person,” said Michele Wittig, a member of the MLK Jr. Westide Coalition. “The leaders that we identify as great leaders are here in our own community, if we only recognize that. Had he lived longer, his leadership would have been more widely recognized today.”

Rev. Williams had suffered a stroke on Dec. 26 that left him incapacitated, and he had difficulty moving the left side of his body, according to Dori Williams and friends of the family. After two weeks in intensive care, friends say Rev. Williams was improving and had been scheduled to begin physical therapy just before he passed away Tuesday morning at about 5 a.m.

“It was a blood clot, which is a risk even though he was taking the medication,” Dori Williams said. “It’s one of the risks you have when you have paralysis on one side and you’re not moving.”

Dori Williams said the family and the congregation are taking the loss very hard.

“It’s really — and it’s like this for the congregation as well as me — it’s devastating,” she said. “I don’t think that’s an overstatement. It feels like we all are walking around asking ‘What now?’”

Those who knew Rev. Williams and his work in Santa Monica say the seeds of his activism have been planted and residents will continue to benefit from his work for a long time to come.

“On a lot of levels he got involved in the city and the school district, trying to make change,” said Darrell Goode, president of the Santa Monica-Venice chapter of the NAACP. “I really believe we are going to see a lot of good things come from his energy and activism.”

Rev. Williams is survived by his wife Dori and four children: Aubrey, 14, D’Andrea, 13, Wesley, 12, and Ronald II, 11.

A musical tribute to Rev. Williams has been planned for Saturday at 7 p.m. by the First AME congregation in Santa Monica at 1823 Michigan Ave. Funeral services have been arranged on Monday at 11 a.m. at the First AME Church of Los Angeles, located at 2270 South Harvard St.

Then Rev. Williams’ body will be flown to Miami, where his extended family lives, for a service on Friday, Feb. 14 at 11 a.m. at St. James Church, located at 1855 NW 65th St., Miami, Fla.

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on February 6, 2003.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/020603.pdf?ref=smdp.com)