Winthrop Williams, Jr., retired associate professor of sculpture, died on June 5, 2012, in Tucson. He was 82.
He was born in Kansas City, Mo., on Nov. 24, 1929, to Winthrop Taylor Williams and Frances Royster Williams. Nicknamed “Tuck,” Mr. Williams was an inspiration for one of his mother’s characters in her literary work, Cuddles and Tuckie, which was a cartoon strip and long-running syndicated radio series.
He graduated from Pembroke Country Day School in 1948 and earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in fine arts from the University of Kansas before accepting a position to teach in the art department at Northern Arizona University in 1961. He taught sculpture, anatomy for artists, three-dimensional design and bronze casting at NAU for 34 years until his retirement in 1995.
He designed and constructed the sculpture equipment for the university while setting up the bronze casting foundry. He built one sculpture class into a sculpture major and designed the new sculpture wing of the creative arts center. Mr. Williams also designed and constructed the NAU crest on the University Union, the bronze sculpture on the Biological Sciences building, the bronze bust of Henry Fountain Ashurst in the Eastburn Education Center, awards for the Senate and House Appropriations Committees, and he created a free-standing bronze sculpture at the entrance to the then-College of Creative Arts at NAU.
Mr. Williams is survived by his wife, Nancy Emmert Williams; son, Whitney (Ella); daughter Adrienne (Juan Pablo Guzman); and four grandchildren.
A service to celebrate his life will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday, June 30, at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, 100 Arroyo Pinon Drive, in Sedona, followed by a gathering at his home.