Former Newsday minority program editor dies

Ceaser Moyce Williams Jr., a former editor at Newsday and longtime journalist and mentor in the field, died Dec. 21 of a pulmonary embolism at Centerpoint Medical Center in Independence, Mo., where he lived. He was 61.

Williams had worked at Newsday from 1988 into 1990 as director-editor of its Minority Editorial Training Program.

"Ceaser jumped into a tough job on short notice and he did it very well," said Bob Keane, who was assistant managing editor when Williams was hired. "Anyone who worked with him will remember his brilliant smile and winning personality, both of which served him well in dealing with editors and managers at Newsday and the other newspapers involved in the METPRO program."

During a 30-plus-year journalism career he had been a writer and editor at several other major newspapers, including The Buffalo Evening News, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and two stints at The Kansas City Star.

Williams, a Buffalo native, had wanted to be a Catholic priest in his youth and attended a seminary midway through high school. But he finished his secondary education at a public high school in the city, his family said.

For a year he went to Morehouse College in Atlanta where, as president of his freshman class, he attended the funeral of Martin Luther King Jr. His family said he often spoke of that funeral, as well as his 1972 attendance at the funeral of Kwame Nkrumah, the first president of the African nation of Ghana. During his college years, he traveled extensively in Africa and Europe, his family said. He graduated from the University of Buffalo with a bachelor's degree in English.

During his time in Atlanta, he also taught journalism at Clark Atlanta University. He was the author of "From the Water," a collection of stories he wrote about a deadly 1994 flood in south Georgia.

"He was really a wordsmith and loved the English language more than anybody I ever knew," said his wife, Mara Rose Williams, a former Newsday reporter now at the Star. "Before we had children, he was nervous about being a dad, but he turned out to be a great dad. He was a funny kind of a crazy guy, but even in his imperfections he was special."

After his journalism career, he taught in Kansas City public schools and at the William Chrisman High School in Independence, Mo. He was also a visiting lecturer at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

Besides his wife, he is survived by two sons, Ceaser M. "Trey" Williams III and Jordan, both of Independence; a brother, Ardis F. Smith Jr., and a sister, Carol Rivera, both of Buffalo.

The remains were cremated.

In lieu of flowers, the family asked that donations be made to the National Association of Black Journalists, 1100 Knight Hall, College Park, MD 20742.