Weightlifter 'Chimesy' Williams dies
wazzzy
James "Chimesy" Williams, a mammoth Scranton man who captured the
city's attention in the 1970s and '80s with a prolific weight
lifting career and a checkered life away from the gym, died Tuesday.
He was 66.
Powerlifting became a hobby for Williams in 1966; by 1968, it had
become a passion. Not long after California police officer Pat Casey
became the first powerlifter to bench press 600 pounds, Williams topped
that. During a competition in Bordentown, N.J., in 1971, he pressed 661
pounds - beating the world record of 655 he had set earlier in the
day. He also squatted 860 pounds that day.
He would press 675 in 1973, the official world record and more than
twice his own body weight. In an unsanctioned lift while working out
with the U.S. Olympic Weight Lifting Team, he pressed 705 pounds.
Ultimately, he'd press 720 pounds, an unofficial record that stood
for more than 19 years.
"It's the only thing that's ever gotten me motivated," Williams
said in 1986.
Williams became as well-known in the courtroom as he did around the
nation as a powerlifter.
Williams admitted to playing part in the beating and robbery of a man
in 1961, when he was 21. He, another man and a 17-year-old took $80 and
a wristwatch. Williams was sentenced to five to 10 years in prison.
It was only the beginning.
A decade later, the U.S. Secret Service charged Williams with
counterfeiting, alleging he and a group of men printed and sold - or
attempted to sell - $5 bills. He ultimately was sentenced to two
years in prison.
In 1981, he was sentenced to five years in federal prison after his
conviction on Social Security fraud charges. Before that trial, city
police arrested him on cocaine trafficking charges. Early in 1982, a
jury acquitted him on four drug-delivery counts, but did convict him on
one count each of possession of a controlled substance with intent to
deliver and criminal conspiracy.
In all, Williams spent 11 years of his life behind bars, where he was
presented with humanitarian awards for establishing inmate
weightlifting programs.
In 1986 - just before his release from prison - he announced that
he was a born-again Christian. He became active as an elder in the
Bethel AME Church and spent the last two decades of his life in
relative anonymity. By 1993, he had begun his third existence - as an
author. He penned the book "Northern Fried Chicken," a
self-described historical adventure into Scranton's black community.
Williams said he decided to write the book as a legacy to his children,
but it became a greater calling when he and a neighbor searched for
background of Scranton's history at the public library and found only
three paragraphs about the black community.
Williams said he hoped that by writing the book, the struggles of the
black community would be understood better. He also hoped it would help
him be remembered more for his writing and weightlifting than his
criminal history.
"I turned my life around years ago," Williams said in 1993. "Who
am I that I can't do something wrong? We've all done wrong. I did
wrong, and I paid for it."
Richard
On Jan 24, 4:55 am, "wazzzy" <enter23...@gmail.com> wrote:
> http://www.thetimes-tribune.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=17742804&BRD=218...
>
> James "Chimesy" Williams, a mammoth Scranton man who captured the
> city's attention in the 1970s and '80s with a prolific weight
> lifting career and a checkered life away from the gym, died Tuesday.
>
here's the obit as submitted by the family in this morning's Times.
Chimesy was a legendary character in scranton when i was a kid. he was
either revered, feared or hated.
01/24/2007
James T. Williams January 23, 2007
James T. Williams, Scranton, died Tuesday at Mercy Hospital after an
illness. He and his wife, the former Patricia Walsh Williams,
celebrated 40 years of marriage on Dec. 24.
Born in Scranton, son of the late Ernest and Sara Strader Williams, he
was a member of Bethel AME Church. He was educated in Scranton public
schools and was a graduate of Scranton Technical High School. Before
his illness, he was employed by Willets Point Co., New Jersey. James
held the world bench-press record for 13 years.
He was a loving husband, father and grandfather who will be deeply
missed.
Also surviving are four sons, James and Nathan, both of Scranton; James
T. Jr., Georgia; and Harlan, Virginia; a daughter, Georgianna Marks,
Scranton; two brothers, Clarence, New Jersey; and Thornton, Colorado;
nine grandchildren; nieces, nephews and cousins.
He was also preceded in death by two brothers, Ernest and Robert
Williams.
Services will be Friday at 10 a.m. in the Bethel AME Church by the Rev.
Andrew Newberry, pastor. Interment, Cathedral Cemetery. Anyone
attending funeral services on Friday is asked to go directly to the
church.
Friends may call Thursday, 6 to 8 p.m., in the McGoff-Hughes Funeral
Home Inc., 1401 Capouse Ave.