Dr. Henry R. Williams Jr., oral surgeon
Dr. Henry “Hank” Robinson Williams Jr., a retired Baltimore oral surgeon who worked in private practice and with several local hospitals, died Oct. 21 from colon cancer at Gilchrist Center Baltimore. The Guilford resident was 80.
He was the son of Rev. Henry R. Williams Sr. and his wife, Ruby Mary Davis Williams. He was born and raised in Birmingham, Ala., and was the second of eight children.
After graduating in 1953 from Parker High School in Birmingham at age 16, he worked as a laboratory assistant for five years for Dr. Albert B. Sabin, who developed the oral polio vaccine in the 1950s.
He entered the University of Illinois and later transferred to the University of Cincinnati, where he received a bachelor’s degree.
He later graduated from the School of Dentistry at Meharry Medical College in Nashville. While there, he met and fell in love with Juanita Muse, a medical transcriptionist. They married in 1967.
He moved to Baltimore and completed his internship and dental residency in 1970 at the University of Maryland School of Dentistry.
Dr. Williams established his practice at a Liberty Heights Avenue office in the early 1970s, across from the old Provident Hospital. He also served on the staff of the University of Maryland Medical Center and at the nowclosed Lutheran Hospital in West Baltimore.
He continued to practice with Mumby & Simmons Dental Consultants PC on Liberty Heights Avenue until about two years ago, when he retired because of declining health.
Dr. Williams also provided dental care for inmates of the Maryland prison system, said a daughter, Leslie Johnson of Stone Mountain, Ga.
He was an inveterate Orioles and Ravens fan. His wife died in 2017. Dr. Williams had been a member of Monroe Street Church of God and Celebration Church in Columbia. A celebration of life service was held Nov. 9 at the Radisson Hotel in Cross Keys.
In addition to his daughter, Dr. Williams is survived by two sons, Michael Williams and Matthew Williams, both of Baltimore; four brothers, Clarence Williams of Baltimore, Dr. Elliott Williams of Windsor, Conn., Perry Williams of Oakland, Calif., and Kenneth Williams of Skillman, N.J.; three sisters, Ruby Gholston of Cincinnati, Gloria Robinson and Mayme Flewellen, both of Dolton, Ill.; and five grandchildren.
Her screen career consisted of tiny film roles and TV guest spots before she landed on “Little House,” based on a book series that author Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote about her childhood.
Ms. MacGregor would stay for the show’s entire run along with actors Michael Landon, the show’s star, who died in 1991, and Melissa Gilbert, who played a young Laura Ingalls.
“She was outspoken and hilariously funny,” Melissa Gilbert said Wednesday on Instagram regarding Ms. MacGregor. “A truly gifted actress as she was able to play a despicable character but with so much heart. Her Harriet Oleson was the woman our fans loved to hate. Aperfect antagonist.”
Alison Arngrim, who played Nellie Oleson, said Ms. Macgregor “had an extremely long and full life and is at peace. ... We will all miss her.”