Arthur Williams Obituary, Death – A respected employee of the Linda Sokol Francis Brookfield Library passed away unexpectedly on Thursday after having a heart attack while on duty. Around one in the afternoon, 52-year-old circulation assistant Arthur Williams suffered a heart attack as he was working in the book return workroom.
After being taken to Loyola Medical Center, he was declared deceased there. William’s sudden death stunned his coworkers, and the library closed early on Thursday at 6 p.m. and remained closed on Friday. Employees at the library came together on Friday morning to pay tribute to a dear colleague. A bereavement therapist can be scheduled by staff members at the library on Saturday mornings before it opens at 10 a.m. Kimberly Coughran, executive director of the Linda Sokol Francis Brookfield Library, stated that “everyone is pretty shaken up.”
Williams was well-respected by his peers as well as library users. He has been employed at the Linda Sokol Francis Brookfield Library since 2018. He was well known for his contagious laugh and constant smile. Former youth services librarian Susan Casey of the library remarked of him, “He was just such a bright light.” “We all cherished him.”
Williams enjoyed striking up conversations with readers, and when they came to the library, they would frequently look for him. When customers were checking out books, “He talked to them,” as Casey described it. “He had an unfathomably pure heart. He was exactly the kind of person you would want to represent the library, no question.
When Williams’s coworkers were having a rough day, his positive outlook lifted their spirits. Williams usually had a quick smile and a cheerful demeanor; he never seemed to be having a bad day. The elderly loved him very much. Casey stated, “They adored him.” Williams’s healthy eating habits were well known to his coworkers; he often drank green tea and snacked on carrots and radishes.
Williams passed away, and Coughran informed relatives and library staff via email that “Arthur could not help but shine.” Like many of us, he was a lifelong lover of libraries and relied solely on them for his work. He loved the spotlight and served Brookfielders and others with great zeal, as we all know. Coughran wasn’t at the library when Williams passed away because she was in Springfield helping State Representative Abdelnasser Rashid adopt a proclamation commemorating Brookfield Library board member Dianne Duner, who passed away earlier this year.
