‘She always put residents first’: Vernon Hills mourns loss of former Mayor Barbara Williams
The Vernon Hills community is mourning former mayor and longtime village trustee Barb Williams.
Williams originally from Richmond, Virginia, was a driver/dispatcher and later manager at a school bus company who got into local politics in 1981. She spent 28 years on the village board including four as mayor.
An outspoken community champion, Williams moved to Mooresville, North Carolina in 2017, where she died last week at age 80.
“She was as staunch a supporter of this community than we’ve ever had,” said Thom Koch Jr., who has served as village trustee since being elected in 1993.
Williams met Koch and his wife to be, Jan, at First Student Inc., and remained friends for more than 45 years.
“Barb was one of the people who always encouraged me to get involved and supported me in everything I did with the village and as a teacher,” Koch said. “She was a real mentor to me in every sense of the word.”
Williams was president of the condo association in the developing New Century Town subdivision in the late 1970s, when residents asked her to do something about manufacturing uses being proposed on farmland nearby.
“So, I went to a board meeting,” she recalled in an interview before moving to Mooresville.
Described as the ultimate politician who never met a stranger, Williams served as village trustee from 1981 to 1989 and mayor from 1989 to 1993. She took a break to care for her husband, Allen, who died in 1996, and returned as trustee in 2001.
During her tenure, Vernon Hills exploded in geographic size through annexations and grew tenfold to the current size of about 27,000.
Former Trustee Cindy Hebda, who also was elected in 1993 and served 25 years before moving to Indiana, said she respected Williams’ “knowledge, integrity and honesty.”
“She always put residents first and we had a tremendous working relationship,” Hebda said Monday. “A wonderful individual who made a significant impact on the community.”
Construction of Vernon Hills High School and a new village hall; arrival of Metra train service, post office and senior living facility; and the expansion of Hawthorn mall were among many significant events that happened during her tenure.
Williams Way in the Grosse Pointe subdivision is named in her honor.
“She’s one of the people really responsible for how good of shape the community is in now,” said Koch. “That was her whole focus — what was best for Vernon Hills.”
Williams was a founding member of Christ Lutheran Church in Vernon Hills and became an active member of St. Mark’s Lutheran Church in Mooresville.
She is survived by daughter Cindy Strom and her husband, Daniel; grandsons Luke and Jack; and, “many friends who are family.”
Services will be Aug. 31 at Christ Lutheran Church in Vernon Hills. Burial is private.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the American Cancer Society or Rare Disease Day. Condolences can be sent to Cavin-Cook Funeral Home and Crematory in Mooresville, www.cavin-cook.com.