James Williams (D) [2018 file photo]

James Williams (D) [2020 file photo]

Sad news this morning, of a friend, from another friend:

Very sad news to share this morning.

James Williams BSN, RN, ANP Nurse Practitioner, retired US Public Health Service Commander [….] and my friend has passed.

Jim gave a lot of himself to his community, his congregation and to Johnson County Democrats in an effort to make our community a better place for all.

We will miss him and our community has suffered a huge loss.

Our thoughts go out to his Wife Bonnie and his family.

Unfortunately he contracted Covid-19 while in the hospital for other treatment. Jim would be the first to tell you to go get your Covid 19 vaccination, wear your mask when around others, wash hands and get tested if you lose taste, smell or have cold/ flu like symptoms. But even being extremely careful, Covid-19 is easily transmissible and while many do have mild cases many do not.

This Pandemic has affected everyone and is far from over. Take precautions and take your vaccine. Ensure you take your flu vaccine this month or early October.

When we have information on services [….] and what not we will share. For now, say a prayer for Jim, his family and our community.

James Williams was a friend, a good Democrat, and a kind human being. He had a wonderful sense of humor and of the absurd.

His concern for his neighbors and his determination to do something about it, in 2018:

[….]

James Williams (D): …We have fifteen hospitals in Missouri that have already closed. And you can’t run a deficit, you can’t run a business in the red continually and expect a good outcome. I know for my self and my wife who live in Johnson County, and for you in the counties in which you live, our rural hospitals are really suffering from the fact that we’ve not expanded Medicaid in this state. [applause] Those are hundreds of millions of dollars that could be coming in to this state to keep our rural hospitals open. The medical centers in the, our three major medical center areas, they can get by without this. But our rural hospitals can’t. And if you don’t think our rural hospitals are not providing emergency care to people who are not insured or do not have a mechanism by which to pay those bills you would be wrong. Because we are providing that care, so the hospitals are not being compensated for it. And this injustice for access to health care has to end. That is something I can vote for in House seat fifty-four. And that everyone running for a position in this Missouri legislature can change that. If all we ever did was to change that one thing it would improve the lives of everyone who lives in the State of Missouri.

I won’t, uh, go on any farther, but I appreciate your listening. I appreciate your listening to who will follow me and the ones that were before me because we need your help. Almost every one of you will be, go out and vote. But what you can do is you can talk to your neighbor, you can talk to that cousin who never votes and you can talk to them and get them to the polls. And tell them how important it is.

You’ve heard a lot of ideas of what can change in Missouri to make everybody’s lives better. But it’ll only happen if the people who we know can hear my story and these other folks’ story through you.

So, I ask you for that support and I ask you to, uh, encourage them that they might find their way to support important issues for working families, and people who are retired, hoping to have a retirement, and for those who are disabled.

I thank you for your time. [applause]

[….]

James Williams (D) [2019 file photo].

James Williams (D) [2020 file photo].

We’ve lost yet another happy warrior. I am going to miss him.