Hosea Williams - Later Life

Later Life

He founded Hosea Feed the Hungry and Homeless, a non-profit foundation widely known in Atlanta for providing hot meals, haircuts, clothing, and other services for the needy on Thanksgiving, Christmas, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and Easter Sunday each year. Williams' daughter Elizabeth Omilami serves as head of the foundation. Among many other entrepreneural endeavors, he also founded Hosea Williams Bail Bonds, Inc., a bail bond agency located in DeKalb County which provides bail for inmates throughout the metro-Atlanta area. Williams' son, Torrey Williams, serves as president and his daughter, Jaunita Collier, as a vice president.

Both his wife and another son, Hosea Williams, II, preceded Williams in death.

Williams died at Piedmont Hospital in Atlanta, after a three-year battle with cancer. Services were held at the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church, where close friend Martin Luther King, was once the pastor. He is interred at Lincoln Cemetery.

Hosea frequented "CHOPS," a fine dining restaurant where he was known for regular dining and drinking. The restaurant even had a special drink key for Hosea that properly charged him for an unusual beverage that was his own favorite concoction.