Press release from Batavia Players:
Our community suffered a tremendous loss this past Sunday as Wendy Williams, local business owner, teacher and humanitarian took her last breaths at Crossroads House comfort care home in Batavia.
Wendy was a 1985 graduate of Hilton Central School and continued her education to earn her Bachelor's degree from Oberlin College Conservatory.
A well-known actor and performer, Wendy shared her many talents on stage in venues throughout Eastern Ohio and Upstate New York. She was a long-serving member of our own Batavia Players/Main St. 56 Theater, performing regularly for over a decade in various plays and musicals including Into the Woods, Mary Stuart, Come Back to the 5 & Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean, Lile Women, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Cabaret, Mamma Mia, August, Osage County and countless more.
In addition to her various acting credits, she served as a member of the Board of Directors and was the Director of the Education at the theater, spearheading programs such Liberty Camp, which focused on keeping young people at risk interested in their education, TOAST Pre-K to first-grade introduction to the theater and the Summer Theater Camp.
Wendy also tirelessly fundraised for the theater and was a major deciding component of the new downtown Main St. 56 Theater Project.
Her illness did not stop these efforts and she continued to do everything she could to ensure that this project would come to fruition.
Wendy was also a solid supporter of the Main St. 56 Dance Company, where her daughter Avelyn was a student.
Williams was a patron of the musical arts in every possible way. Many may remember Wendy from her annual Christmas Caroling events. She funded theater classes and vocal competition fees for friends, acquaintances, and students to ensure that all could receive equal access to these programs.
As a former band director at St. Joseph’s Regional School, a school that had previously been without a band program, she campaigned, collected, and purchased instruments to distribute to her students who would have otherwise been unable to participate.
Wendy’s true genius as a facilitator of musical expression came from her teaching.
As a licensed Kindermusik educator for more than 20 years, Williams was passionate about the formative role of musical play in child development. With a degree in both Music Therapy and Vocal Performance, she was well equipped to provide instruction in both the technical aspects of music as well as the psychosocial role it plays as a tool for self-expression and therapeutic relief. The students of Sound Foundations, her rapidly growing voice studio, ranged from pre-k to adulthood.
An adjudicator for the National Association of Teachers of Singing, Wendy was adept at bringing out the very best in each of her students and many took part in companions at the national and international level, performing in Chicago, Washington DC, and Carnegie Hall in New York City.
Despite these many contributions, Wendy may be most well known for her human kindness. There was never a soul in need that Wendy Williams did not rally to. Every year, new and like-new winter coats would be purchased and collected by Williams and her mother Barbara Kerns to be distributed to those in need. Groceries were purchased for the ill, disadvantaged, or grieving.
On so many occasions, Wendy would fill her home with food, clothing, or toys to provide for individuals who had suffered a house fire, unemployment, or simply the challenges of life.
Wendy loved to bake and was involved in quite a few baking exchanges in the community.
The Williams house was always open to any looking for a roof over their head or a home-cooked meal.
A strong advocate for LGBTQ rights, Wendy was a mother to all and welcomed many estranged young adults into her inclusive family. When the idea of a PRIDE celebration came up in Batavia and Genesee County, Wendy made sure that it was promoted and worked to ensure that our local theater and Dance Academy were a part of the PRIDE events. She was truly an icon of love and compassion, and she will be sorely missed.
Wendy is survived by her mother, Barbara (Williams) Kerns, husband, Sean Williams; children, Collin Jones, Brannon (Emily) Jones, Charlie (Sara) Williams, Owen Jones, John Williams, and Avelynn Williams; a sister, Shayna (Bre) Klassen and her sister of the heart, Sara Brunner. Family and friends may call on Thursday from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at the H.E. Turner & Co. Funeral Home, 403 East Main Street in Batavia. There will be no funeral service and Wendy will be laid to rest in Hillside Cemetery in Holley.
