Una Joyce Williams, Huntington helper and civil rights advocate, dies at 91

Growing up in the South during the 1930s, Una Joyce Williams knew she was different, her family said.

"She somehow knew at a young age that all men and women are created equal," said Williams' daughter, Wendy Morris, of upstate Nunda. "Even though she was raised in Birmingham, Alabama, she would not stand by for any sort of segregation."

Williams, who dedicated her life to being an activist for civil rights and helping others, died of a heart attack on April 20. The Huntington resident was 91.

Born on June 24, 1934, in Youngstown, Ohio, Williams earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Alabama in 1957, followed by a master's degree in social work from Adelphi University in 1963.

Perhaps one of Williams' proudest moments was when she attended the March on Washington in 1963, her family said. She also marched from Selma, Alabama, to Montgomery, the state capital, in 1965. She spent her life championing equality and housing.

Among the many posts she held during her life, Williams served first as the director for the Town of Huntington Senior Citizen Program from 1963 until 1967 and later chaired the Human Relations Committee in 1970. Williams then worked as a medical and psychiatric social worker for the Northport  Veterans Affairs Medical Center from 1974 until she retired in 2008. Her dedication to helping and advocating for others earned her numerous awards and accolades.

"She was a very good role model and leader. She had a lot of energy and was a very progressive type of person," said Williams' son, Christopher Williams, of Huntington Station.

Una Williams and her former husband, John, moved from New York City to Huntington in the early 1960s and had three children: Wendy, Christopher and Sharon Collins. Although they later divorced, the two remained friends.

"She was a good mom who pretty much raised three children on her own. She worked three jobs but provided a home for us to grow up in, and she was very generous with her time," Morris said of her mother. "We always had people living with us. As a social worker, Mom wanted to make sure everyone had a stable place to live."

Cathy Karafa met Williams in 1969, when she and her family moved across the street in Huntington.

"She was one of my best friend's moms. She was a character and had a great influence on my life and many of the kids in the neighborhood," said Karafa, of Greenlawn. "Una was always helping someone. She cared about other people and wanted to make things better for everybody."

According to Morris, Williams had an "activist spirit" and continued her passion for helping others on Long Island.

"She was very involved with housing around the railroad station in Huntington, and was always concerned about women's healthcare," Morris said.

As the mother of her childhood best friend, Denise Qualey considered Williams' house to be her "second home." It was Williams who inspired Qualey to find a career helping people.

"I learned that compassion was more than kindness — to be compassionate was to take action," said Qualey, of Ridgefield, Connecticut, who serves as managing director of Kids In Crisis, an emergency shelter and crisis intervention program for children and youth. "Joyce was such an inspiration and influence in my young life that I know she had a strong hand in my work today."

Like many who knew her, Qualey noted what a special person Williams was.

"She was an amazing woman who made a life out of fighting for what was right and helping the most vulnerable," Qualey said. "You don’t come across many women like Joyce today. I think if we did, the world might be a bit more compassionate."

Williams was a talented painter and also greatly enjoyed music, playing piano in her home and singing in the choir at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of  Huntington, where she was a member for more than 60 years. She also had a love for collecting postage stamps.

"She was very into history,"  Christopher Williams said of his mother, who took an interest in stamp collecting from her father. "We used to go through stamps and old photos together — she was super creative — and would build these collages together. She took something stale in my mind and made it interesting and exciting."

"She loved the arts, but the biggest thing was the memorial garden she helped curate at the church," Morris said.

In addition to her children, Williams is survived by five grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. A memorial service is planned for the fall.