A graveside service for Mr. Walter Kenneth “Bud” Williams of Gulfport, formerly of Winona, will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Friday, November 11, at Oakwood Cemetery in Winona. Rev. Randy Bridges will officiate the service.
Walter Kenneth “Bud” Williams, 84, passed away Saturday, November 5, 2022, at Memorial Hospital in Gulfport, MS. He was born in Winona, MS to Walter and Joy Evans Williams on June 20, 1938. He was a member of the Southside Baptist Church in Winona and a U.S. Army Veteran. Before retiring, he worked for the MS Department of Health.
He is survived by his wife, Florine “Babe” Williams of Gulfport and son, Kenneth Bradley “Brad” Williams of Gulfport. He was preceded in death by his parents and one sister.
Oliver Funeral Home of Winona, Inc. 
I was the District Health Officer for District 9 Mississippi State Dept. of Health in 1990. Our Syphilis rate was 350 new cases that year. With Kens help we brought it down to 0 in 5 years. They said it couldn’t be done and Dr. Cobb lost his job over the move which required us to survive a EOC complaint which attacked Ken on every level in a brutal federal hearing in New Orleans.
As a dedicated public servant I consider Ken one of the finest and most fearless I have ever met and worked with. Once our district took the stand, Ken showed his design of the public health response of Mississippi, and the entire southeastern public health system were embarrassed by their own rates. Over the next 5 years they reduced their rates to near ours but Ken had set the standard. Ken was also a super differential person. He was a charming but had a mind that was razor sharp.
May you rest in peace my great friend.
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