Mary “Mike” Williams

Community Volunteer

THEN: The “go-to” volunteer for many organizations needing help at local events such as the upcoming Delray Affair, Williams honed an ability to get things done while growing up as the third of seven children in her family. Known by the moniker Mike—based on her middle name, Michaela—she also was given the title of “sergeant” by her siblings, “because I was bossy,” she says. Moving from outside New York City to the northern Virginia area when her father joined the CIA, Williams and her family later landed in Massachusetts, where she would attend Anna Maria College, earning a degree in mathematics. She and her family later settled in Newport, Rhode Island, where she taught eighth-grade math for 33 years. Upon her retirement in 2003, Williams and her husband then moved to the mountains of Vermont (where she delivered Meals on Wheels and volunteered at the local library), and landed in Delray in 2004 as snowbirds. They became permanent residents in 2019.

NOW: Williams is a regular volunteer at the Delray Beach Chamber of Commerce, holding down the front desk two days a week and helping out at various events. She’s been volunteering at the 100-Foot Christmas Tree for many years and assists the Downtown Development Authority with Savor the Avenue. From April 14 to 16, Williams will return as volunteer greeter of sorts at the annual Delray Affair, meeting vendors who come to the chamber office for a break as well as visitors seeking information. In addition, she recently became a volunteer Eucharistic minister at St. Vincent Ferrer Catholic Church, visiting hospital patients and offering communion. She also serves as a volunteer sacristan, preparing the church for mass two days a week.