The man many consider responsible for turning Orlando into an NBA town is set to be remembered Friday afternoon in a Celebration of Life service.
But Pat Williams’ legacy goes well beyond the sports world.
“Pat and I met years ago probably a little after the year 2000,” said Gary Lessord.
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Lessord met Williams at First Baptist Church in Orlando, where the two taught Sunday school together.
“He was bigger than life,” said Lessord. “When I think of Pat, a lot of people think promoter, promoter of sports, but I knew him as somebody who promoted individual people. He was continually searching out the very best in people and promoting them.”
Lessord met with News 6′s Mark Lehman and showed him a sketch he drew of Williams, and his collection of Williams’ books, reading a passage out loud to Lehman.
“‘You are responsible for the welfare of the weak.’ Now think about Pat and all the adopted children and everything he’s done that basically has been a great humanitarian,” said Lessord. “So as Pat is writing these, he’s living these.”
Williams has 19 children, 14 of them adopted from countries around the world. In 2011, he was diagnosed in 2011 with multiple myeloma, a cancer of plasma cells.
“He’s diagnosed around the age of 70. He lives to 84. He gets 14 more years in. In those 14 more years, nothing was wasted,” said Lessord.
“Pat had a lot of drive and passion. A lot of people can learn from that,” said Lehman.
“Oh yeah, definitely,” said Lessord. “That’s the thing. The energy level.”
Lessord said it’s that drive, passion and personality that made Williams stand out and leave an impression on everyone he met.
“You cannot comprehend, unless you know other individuals like that or live like that, the amount of energy and the amount of focus that it takes to be a Pat Williams.”
He said he expects a big outpouring of love and support at Williams’ Celebration of Life service, set for Friday at First Baptist Church at 3000 S John Young Pkwy, Orlando, FL 32805. The service is open to the public and begins at 3 p.m. News 6 will also stream the service live here on ClickOrlando.com.
“You’re going to see the whole range, in terms of his life. You’re going to see things that are comical. You’re going to see things that are very intense, emotional,” said Lessord.
“What are you going to miss most about Pat?,” asked Mark.
“Probably the talks and the thing is, over the last few days, the echo of his voice,” said Lessord. “If I was going to capsulize it in a single sentence, is Heaven now has a live wire. Pat is always tremendously always on the go.”
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