July 7, 1999

by Janet Rathner

Staff Writer

Allan Williams, a Potomac teen-ager who maintained a zest for life and inspired others around him while battling throat cancer from infancy, died of the disease June 26. He was 19.

Williams was profiled in The Gazette in February 1995 when, despite his own serious illness, he wrote a letter to the Make-A-Wish-Foundation, an organization that grants the wishes of seriously ill children. He wrote on behalf of his friend, Eugene Oh, who was fighting leukemia and about to undergo a bone marrow transplant.

Oh wanted to take his family to visit their homeland in Korea. After receiving Williams' letter, Make-A-Wish approved the trip, but Oh was not well enough to go. He died a few weeks later, but not before writing a letter to Make-A-Wish on behalf of Williams. That wish was also granted and Williams, his family, and one friend went for a week of skiing in Vail, Colo.

Make-A-Wish does not usually receive letters of request from children on behalf of other children, let alone from ones who are so seriously ill themselves, said a spokeswoman for the organization at that time. The spokeswoman said referrals typically come from doctors and nurses.

Friends of Williams and Oh say the compassion exemplified by the requests to Make-A-Wish personify these two young men.

"They were very good friends taking care of each other," said Soon Ai Oh, Eugene's mother.

"They learned from each other. They were incredibly strong people," said Bryant Lee, 19, of Potomac, who was with Williams when he died. "[They] weren't scared of death. Hopefully, I can be like them."

Williams' illness required he undergo a tracheotomy at the age of 2. The procedure left him without a voice. He communicated with buccal speech, a technique used by people who have lost their larynxes to cancer.

Despite the trache, rounds of chemotherapy, radiation treatments and frequent hospitalizations, Williams maintained an active life. He graduated from Churchill High School in 1998 and spent that summer taking classes at the University of Florida at Gainesville. He planned to continue there as a business administration major, but came home in August due to his illness.

Claude Williams, Allan's mother, said her son was prepared for death, and chose to spend his final months in the way he spent his entire life, enjoying the moment.

"He knew everything, but he was too busy living," Claude Williams said. "He'd been told by his doctor how he would die [and] he was able to live with it."

Williams was busy living to the very end. He died en route to a friend's house where the boys planned to watch videos. Pulling his car off to the side of the road, he told Lee, "I guess this is it."

"He died in peace," Claude Williams said. "It was the best death. He was doing what he wanted to do."

Williams will be buried in Belgium, his mother's home country. In addition to his mother, Allan Williams is survived by his father, Joseph, his sister, Daphne Williams deHaven, and his brother-in-law, Mariah deHaven. Another sister, Sophie Williams, died of cancer in 1977.

A memorial service was held June 30 at St. James Episcopal Church in Potomac.

Donations in Allan Williams' memory can be made to: Children's Hospital Foundation, Oncology Department, 111 Michigan Ave. NW, Washington, D.C. 20010.