SSA Orville M. Williams Way
circa 1999
Source

Orville M. Williams (d. 1999) served with the NYPD Division of School Safety for two years before he suffered a fatal heart attack while responding to an incident on the job.

Williams joined the team at Franklin K. Lane High School in 1997 as a school safety agent, where he was reliable and “always was the first to respond” to trouble, according to Board of Education spokeswoman Margie Feinberg.

On the afternoon of November 16, 1999, Williams ran to respond to one of two separate but simultaneous reported fights. On the way, he collapsed to the floor of a stairwell, unconscious. He was pronounced dead from a heart attack at Jamaica Hospital soon after. The fights were later said to have been minor incidents.

Following his death, Police Commissioner Howard Safir called him "the glue that held the team together." He also reported that Williams, who was a bodybuilder, had preexisting heart trouble.

Williams, who was known to his loved ones as "Sugar Bear," passed away at the age of 25. He was predeceased by his mother, who had died earlier that same year.

Then-Mayor Rudolph Giuliani presided over the Civilian Memorial Service that year, to honor civilian members of the service who lost their lives in the line of duty. Williams was the lone service member to have died in the line of duty in 1999. "He died trying to protect the children of our schools," Giuliani said. "His death is even more tragic because he was young himself, only twenty-five years old at the time, and he had so much more to give to his family and to his City." Williams' name joined those of past service members lost on plaques unveiled during the ceremony.

This street, which is just outside the Franklin K. Lane campus, was co-named in his honor thanks to the efforts of the Newtown Historical Society and Christina Wilkinson. Council Members Robert Holden and Joann Ariola co-sponsored the bill to co-name the street. The new street sign was unveiled in a ceremony on May 4, 2024.

Sources:

"Committee Report of the Infrastructure Division," The Council of the City of New York, December 20, 2023

"HS Safety Agent Dies in Queens," Daily News, November 17, 1999

"Mayor Giuliani And Police Commissioner Safir Join Family Members To Honor School Safety Agent Orville Williams During Nypd Civilian Memorial Service," Archives of the Mayor's Press Office, accessed May 1, 2025

Woodhaven Cultural and Historical Society, Facebook, May 4, 2024