Williams mentored city youth through Running Rebels
Nick Truog, an at-risk boy in the Running Rebels program, spent most of his youth without a father. So when he learned he had been assigned a mentor, he was immediately suspicious of the kindly, bald man purporting to be his friend.
That man was Marshall Lamont Williams and Truog would come to call him the man who saved his life.
Williams, born Jan. 3, 1945, lost his father to World War II and it was this loss that led him to step into that role for at-risk young men.
The 73-year-old who served four years in the Air Force and worked at General Electric as a service technician and welder, retired early to mentor such youth at Running Rebels, a Milwaukee agency that works to keep the city’s youth safe, connecting them with mentors, athletics, music, tutoring and workforce training.
Never marrying or having children, Williams unofficially adopted many “running rebels” as his own.
By the end of his life, Williams had mentored about 50 teens and earned a Running Rebels Lifetime Achievement Award. Williams died Nov. 15 of a cancer that was detected just three months earlier.
Williams was known for spending time on and off the clock with his mentees, taking them on trips and lending
an ear during hard times.
Mentor Extraordinaire
Truog said Marshall Williams was the father he always wanted.
Truog’s mother worked long hours and his father was absent for the first half of his life. As a young boy caught in the juvenile justice system on accusations that were eventually dismissed, the 11-year-old Truog felt alone until Williams became his mentor.
“He would be like, ‘Nick, you can do anything you put your mind to, even president.’ And this was before (President Barack) Obama got elected and I said, ‘that’s funny, Marshall,’” Truog recounted. “The next week after Obama got elected, he brought a paper and said, ‘See? You can do anything you put your mind to — anything is possible.’”
“Can’t,” it seems, was not a word in Marshall William’s vocabulary.
And Williams’ penchant for going above and beyond produced a bond that was nothing short of extraordinary.
Every Saturday, Williams would pick up Truog at 10 a.m. and take him to the library, the museum or just for a walk. Williams attended Truog’s PTA meetings, sporting events, college tours, graduations and college family visits. Williams continued mentoring Truog after he aged out of the Running Rebels program.
One time, Williams told Truog that he was over hours and wouldn’t be paid for spending time with him.
Truog had replied that he understood, fully expecting Williams to go home.
But instead, Williams had laughed. “No, no,” he had said. “I’m just letting you know, I’m not getting paid.”
Truog, who transferred from Millikin University and graduated from Marquette University in 2017 with a degree in international affairs and political science, keeps Williams’ cross hanging on his rearview mirror as a reminder that he can get through anything.
Running Rebels
Dawn Barnett, Running Rebels’ codirector, remembered Williams as being wholly dedicated to his mentees.
“Right away, we knew that his heart was in this for real and that he really wanted to make a difference for youth in Milwaukee.”
Kids, Barnett said, naturally gravitated toward him.
“He was always available (and) he showed a lot of empathy, so he came at them in a way that was not judgmental but caring and truly wanting to assist them.”
Barnett said he also inspired others in the community to be more giving. An anonymous donor contributed $25,000 to the Running Rebels 2018 Scholarship Awards Dinner in Williams’ name.
But the Pennsylvania native shied away from recognition, preferring to make a difference behind the scenes.
“I think that he was extremely humble,” she said. “He didn’t do what he did to be in the spotlight — it came from his heart.”
Barnett said Williams’ mentorship of Truog exemplified his giving nature.
“I think for Nick, he literally changed the outcome of his life,” she said. “It’s like a ripple effect: You help one person and that actually helps generations of people to come.”
Williams is survived by his twin brother, Michael (Rochelle) Williams, and his two sisters, Lettye Jackson and Wanda Kyd Ferguson and aunt Eula Muckler.