Lewis Catlett Williams died in Norfolk, Virginia on March 11, 2026 surrounded by family and friends. He was born in Richmond, VA to Armistead and Fan Williams on March 2nd, 1951 and was the grandson of Maria and Lewis Catlett Williams of Richmond and of Frederick and Agnes Richardson of Detroit.

Lewis grew up in Clifton Forge and in Williamsburg,Virginia before enlisting in the Army. Stationed in the Army’s preventive medicine unit in Korea, he monitored hazardous noise exposure and worked to prevent hearing loss in his fellow soldiers. After completing service in the Army, he graduated from Thomas Nelson Community College with an Associate in Applied Science Degree in Occupational Safety and Health Technology and later from Old Dominion University with a BS in Environmental Health. Thus launched his career in Industrial Health and Safety, which included work at Newport News shipbuilding protecting its employees from the hazards associated with asbestos and nuclear reactors and later for the state of North Carolina Bridge Worker Safety Services. He also was a safety engineer involved with the removal of asbestos from school buildings and taught workplace safety to crane operators. He later advised the federal government committees formulating regulations related to further improving worker safety.

Lewis was both a doer and an adventurer. Introduced to sailing at an early age, he was a gifted (and exciting) sailor in a Flying Scot and on a Sunfish. He raised funds for Multiple Sclerosis by cycling with his family on MS-150 bike rides from Raleigh to the Atlantic, and cooked food for those in need at Thanksgiving. He enjoyed camping whether on overnight trips with scouts or traveling in an RV throughout North Carolina and the West. He used his skills in building, gardening and landscape projects both at home and in support of Habitat for Humanity. Lewis engaged with people wherever he went, loved and collected jazz music, was a talented cook especially with hot peppers, and hours before his death, wrote out for the family his fabled recipe for Shrimp and grits.

Along with other family members who were with him in his final days were the women he had loved: his first wife Martha Shields Petit with whom he shared a daughter Emily Catesby; his second wife Nancy Taylor Williams with whom he shared sons Lewis and Robert, and Anita Bradshaw, his significant other for the last years of his life.

Lewis is survived by Emily Catesby Shields (Rodney) of Woodbine, MD, Lewis Catlett Williams Jr. (and partner Jess) of Raleigh, NC, and Robert Taylor Williams of Santa Cruz, CA. He is also survived by his brothers Armistead (Widget) of Norfolk, VA, Fred (Kate) of Leesburg VA, and Tony (Katherine) of Montpelier VT, Anita Bradshaw of Valdese NC, and a host of loving cousins, nieces and nephews and so many people whose lives he touched and protected.

The family is grateful for the care, kindness, and compassion shown to Lewis by his pulmonologist Dr. Beth Batchelor and the other doctors, nurses, aides, respiratory and physical therapists working in the General Intensive Care Unit at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital during his hospitalization.

A celebration of Lewis’ life will be held at a future date and his ashes will be spread at the family property on Wilson Creek near the river he loved.

Donations in memory of Lewis may be sent to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, the Chesapeake Bay foundation, or your local Habitat for Humanity.

Simply Cremation is assisting Lewis's family with the arrangements.