Dr. James Warren "Jim" Williams

Dr. James Warren Williams, age 81, died peacefully Monday, April 15, 2024, at his home in Buchanan, TN.

Dr. Williams was born in Detroit, MI in 1942, the son of the late Maggie Lorene Thompson Williams and the late Edward Lars Williams.  He attended E.W. Grove High School, class of 1961, and he went on to attend Memphis State University, where he received the Distinguished Alumni Award in 1985.  He studied medicine at the University of Tennessee in Memphis and was elected to the Alpha Omega Alpha honorary society.  He completed his residency in surgery in Memphis at the University of Tennessee program in 1971 and joined the faculty at the University of South Florida at the behest of his mentor and new program chair, Dr. Roger Sherman.

Driven to help those whose disease process left no hope for improvement, he studied liver transplantation under the “father of transplantation,” Dr. Thomas E. Starzl, in Denver, CO and returned to Memphis to start one of the first centers in the United States performing this life-saving procedure.  Patients with untreatable liver disease from all over the country sought to be seen and evaluated for transplantation by Dr. Williams.
 

He was recruited by medical centers nationwide before settling in Chicago, IL as the Director of Transplantation at Rush University Medical Center, and Professor of Surgery at Rush Medical College.  He finished his long and distinguished career at the University of Chicago. 

Dr. Williams participated in the development of a novel immunosuppressant drug, Leflunomide, overwhelmingly proving its merit in patients with certain post-transplant infectious diseases.  He established a pharmaceutical development and production company, Cinkate Corporation, based in the U.S. and China.  He mentored hundreds of fellows, residents, and medical students and his legacy continues to live on through them today.
 

Dr. Williams is the author of the book, Hepatic Transplantation (1989), over 600 peer-reviewed medical articles, and he contributed immeasurably to the international community of surgeon-scientists engaged in the care of some of the most challenging patients in all of medicine.  He received awards from transplantation societies, and he gave numerous presentations to some of the brightest minds in modern medicine from all over the world.

Tragically, he was diagnosed with dementia towards the end of his life. He moved back to his beloved boyhood home in Buchanan, TN, where he always returned to rest and relax, to live out the rest of his days surrounded by caring, lifelong friends and family.

He is survived by his wife, Gini Routon Williams, of Paris, TN; his sister, Nancy Mullins of Memphis, TN; his daughter, Katelynn Thompson Williams of Oak Park, IL; his three sons, Thomas Routon Williams of Los Angeles, CA, Dr. Arthur Burton (Alaine) Williams of Cincinnati, OH, and James Curtis (Jessica) Williams of Chicago, IL; and three grandchildren, Nathaniel and Amelia Williams of Cincinnati, OH, and musician, Theodore Williams of Chicago, IL.  His legacy continues with nearly one-third of his children and grandchildren pursuing careers in medicine. 

Arrangements are being handled by Ridgeway Funeral Home, 201 Dunlap Street/PO Box 788, Paris, TN 38242.  The body is to be cremated.  Memorial visitation will be Saturday, May 4, 2024, from 10:00 am – 11:00 am at Ridgeway Funeral Home, with a celebration of life to begin at 11:00 am at Ridgeway Funeral Home.