Those who keep us safe: Lee Williams

Lee Williams comes from a family with a long history of serving the community in public safety.

You would be hard pressed to find someone in this area who doesn’t know his father, Leroy Williams, who served as a Vicksburg Police Officer and later a deputy sheriff. Williams’ grandmother, June “Thundercat” Williams, worked as a dispatcher and jailer at the Warren County Sheriff’s Office. Her father was a Canton Police Officer and a State Game Warden. Lee’s Uncle Kenny was a Vicksburg Police investigator and later served with U.S. Customs and Border Protection as an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent. Kenny’s sons are both in law enforcement with James K a Vicksburg police officer and Brandon a Raymond police officer. Lee’s brother-in-law, Ben Foley, serves as a Vicksburg firefighter.

Williams is an Air Force veteran who served in the security forces. Following the military, he worked at Ergon Refining where he became a member of the fire brigade and discovered his passion for firefighting. He later moved on to ERDC working in security and rising to a supervisory position. Last year he transitioned to the role of fire inspector for the facility.

Lee Williams has been a member of the Culkin Fire Department and the Warren County Fire Service for 10 years. Through both his job and his position on the fire department, he has countless hours of training from both the state and national fire academies. He can often be found on incident scenes directing younger and less experienced firefighters on how to deal with incidents in a safe manner.

When asked why he does what he does, his answer was twofold. “It’s a way that I can serve my community,” he said, adding, “If I can be a part of saving one life, then it’s all worth it.”

Ernest Leroy “Lee” Williams III, we thank you for your service to our community.