Classifieds 25 Real Estate 16
OCTOBER 1, 2020
YOUR NEIGHBORS
“This school is where the girls started out. It holds a special place in our hearts.” REGINA GILYARD-THOMAS, mother of Wilma and grandmother of Mozella and Kaleigh
Louis Williams sits alone after the ceremony honoring his wife and two daughters, who died in April.
Legacy of love Scholarship to honor mother and two daughters who died in April crash
BRIAN MCMILLAN EXECUTIVE EDITOR
I
n a white shirt and black slacks, Louis Williams sat alone on a bench outside Belle Terre Elementary School. This is the building where Mozella, 13, went to school, and where Kaleigh, 11, was still a student before they died in that crash on April 17. Williams’ wife, Wilma, also died in the crash.
Since then, he said, he has had some good days and some bad days. “You have to be able to lean on Christ to get you through it,” he said. “Death is going to come, but you don’t expect it to happen like this, especially for me, a 100% family man. There was nothing better than coming home to my wife and kids.” Although Mozella and Kaleigh will not walk the halls of the school anymore, they will be part of the school. The extended family came together to start a memorial scholarship, and a plaque — with photos of Mozella and Kaleigh — will be on a wall in the school, with names of students added to the plaque each year from now until the year when the sisters would have both been done with Matanzas High School. Several of family members traveled from San Mateo to be with Louis Williams and school staff for a ceremony to unveil the plaque.
“It means a lot because it’s their legacy,” Williams said. “My wife was very big on education, and they come from a big family of educators. So this is something I’m quite sure they would be proud of.” Williams, wearing a custommade mask that featured pictures of his wife and daughters, was joined among others by Wilma’s aunt Sandra Gilyard, a preacher from San Mateo. Also in attendance were Wilma’s sisters Rhonda Jara, Satura Stokes and brother Earnest Stokes. “Thank you for this learning institution,” Gilyard prayed before an outdoor ceremony at the entrance of the school on Sept. 24. “Not too often do we find people who step outside of themselves and love as they have loved our family. ... We pray your blessings on this school. ... Have mercy on us.” The first two scholarship honorees were Kennedi Cooper and Analia Harper, who will be given yearbooks, field trip money and school T-shirts. “Whatever you would have to pay for, we’re going to take care of it,” Gilyard said. Among the staff at Belle Terre who have helped support the family in their grief are Dean Priscilla Campbell, Principal Jessica DeFord, teacher Victoria Smith and, most of all, teacher Abbey Cooke. “You were a second momma to the girls,” Gilyard said to Cooke. “You did some things that ... only family would do. You sent us poems and artwork — everything you could think of during this moment. You could not have done that if you didn’t love us and love our babies.” After Kennedi and Analia posed for a photo and the family began to leave, Cooke reflected on the tragedy. “It broke me for a little while,” Cooke said. “My students really are my kids, and I feel like I’m still healing. It also opened my heart more to love these kids while they’re here because you never know what can happen.” She added: “This family
Photos by Brian McMillan
Analia Harper and Kennedi Cooper, the first two scholarship recipients, hold the plaque featuring photos of Mozella and Kaleigh Williams.
didn’t love me because I’m a great teacher. It’s making these connections with the kids and knowing them for who they really are. And could be.” Smith said the quiet scholarship ceremony helped her with her own grief. “The aura and the atmosphere — even though it brings me sadness, it brings me peace,” Smith said. Cooke also recalled the funeral in April, when Louis Williams tried to turn the somber tone of the gathering into more of a celebration of his wife’s and daughters’ lives. “There’s really no doubt in the family’s eyes that they are in heaven and at peace,” Cooke said. “Even as sixth- and seventhgraders, they were very strong in their faith. ... I am not as strong in my faith as they are, and I found it very comforting.” Later, Louis Williams would return home, where the bedrooms remain as they did before the crash five months ago. “That’s my way, for now, of dealing with it,” he said, “as if, in my mind, they’re still here because their rooms are still here. Their smell.”
Veterans Services Officer recognized for helping save veteran Lydon keeps in touch with the man who had attempted suicide. Lydon is assisting him with a VA claim.
David Lydon
JULIE MURPHY FLAGLER COUNTY PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICER
Veterans Services Officer David Lydon received attention this week from the national office of the American Legion for taking a call and listening to a distraught Vietnam veteran, ultimately saving him from taking his own life. “It was right about lunchtime when the call came in. I didn’t know what to make of it,” Lydon said. “The gentleman was hard to understand — he wasn’t making sense. I listened. I just kept listening, and let him talk.” The caller shared that listening to news reports about the number of lives lost to COVID-19 brought him back to his days serving in the Vietnam War and the death counts of American servicemen
and -women. Having thought he called a national hotline — he had bounced around from line to line for 15 minutes until reaching Lydon — the veteran was surprised to learn he was speaking with someone in Flagler County. “I don’t know where his call initiated, or where it was routed before I answered, but I am glad he reached me,” Lydon said. “He told me he was about 20 minutes away, and I asked him if he wanted to continue the conversation in person.” Lydon believed he had gotten the caller past the impulse to harm himself, but was on pins and needles until the veteran arrived. “He was late,” Lydon said. “I was worried. I called the nonemergency line to the Sheriff’s Office to have them do a wellbeing check, and that’s when he
GETTING HELP n The National Suicide
Prevention Lifeline: Call 1-800-273-TALK (8255). n Crisis Text Line: Text “HOME” to 741-741. n SMA Healthcare: Call the Access Center line at 800-5394228. SMA has an adult Crisis Treatment and Triage Unit (CTTU). It also has a special crisis response team for young people up to age 26.
walked in. It was quite a relief.” Lydon keeps in touch with the man and is assisting him with a VA claim. “People often just need someone to talk to — someone to listen — to get them past a rough spot,” Lydon said. “It’s important not ro
freeze. I had to let him know that he would be able to talk to me.” The humble Lydon — a 36-year Air Force Reservist and a retired New York police officer, who has worked four years for Flagler County as its Veterans Services Officer — never told county administration of his lifesaving phone call, which happened in July. Word came by way of a Google alert on Sept. 23 that there was an article about him posted on the American Legion’s website. Lydon said the local chapter became aware of the call because he mentioned it during his radio show, “Veterans on Point” (airs on WNZF 94.9 FM and 1550 AM from 9:30 to 10 a.m. Sundays) while discussing PTSD and suicide prevention. The news traveled upward through the district to the national office.
