So, Ted left this world in July of 2002 after suffering a series of strokes accompanied by congestive heart failures and cardiac arrest. In his last years, he had suffered multiple heart problems; a pacemaker had been installed in 2000 and open-heart surgery the next year. On the day of his death, his body was flown to the Alcor Life Extension Foundation in Scottsdale, Arizona to be placed into cryogenic suspension. This procedure would place the body in suspended animation with liquid nitrogen in hopes that, at a later date, future scientific advances would and could restore the dead to life. He, then healed by new science, could rejoin his family and continue on. His “afterlife” problems had just begun.
It’s certainly not clear exactly what Ted wanted for his final resting place. Ted’s daughter, Barbara---also referred to as Bobby Jo--- Ferrell, by his first wife contended that her father was clear about his wishes to be cremated. Ferrell had been in contact with her father, but had only met her half siblings a few times. Williams had apparently disinherited her at some point. His son, John Henry and his sister, Claudia, by his second wife had indicated strongly that their father had signed a paper of consent which suggested that he wanted to be cryogenically preserved. The only publicly-known documentation, according to a “Sports Illustrated” article of August, 2003, suggesting his desire to be preserved, “….is a piece of scrap paper, stained with motor oil and dated Nov. 2, 2000.” That paper, apparently bearing the signatures of John Henry, sister Claudia and Ted, states their desire to be put into “bio-stasis after we die” on the chance the three of them might “be together in the future.”
In any case, on the day of Ted’s death, John Henry had his body flown to Scottsdale for the cryogenic procedure. John Henry had somehow been named in charge of his father’s estate. John Henry had earlier indicated (on the day of death) the he (John Henry) wanted full-body suspension. All indications, according to that same “Sports Illustrated” article of August, 2003, are, rather than resting upside down in a liquid-nitrogen tank, that the head was surgically separated from the body. Ted’s head now sits on a shelf in a liquid-nitrogen steel can, while his body is in the same room, stored upright in a 9-foot cylindrical steel can also filled with liquid nitrogen. It was also reported by “Sports Illustrated” that the silver can containing Ted’s head resembles a lobster pot and is marked in black with his patient I.D. number. Also reported is that the head had been shaved and drilled with holes, the skull accidentally cracked as many as 10 times due to fluctuating temperature changes.
Ferrell claims that John Henry had only wanted to preserve his father’s DNA, perhaps to sell it, while Henry contends he wanted only to preserve the body for future reuniting with the family. She (Ferrell) claims that her lawyer said that Williams asked in his will to be cremated and his ashes scattered over his old fishing grounds in the Florida Keys. No reason has ever been given why Ted’s body was divided. John Henry died in 2004 of leukemia and was also transported to Alcor for suspended animation in fulfillment of the family agreement. Strangely enough, as of 2003, the balance of $120, 000 for the cryogenic procedure, plus $16,000 for flying the body to Arizona, minus $25,000 Henry paid to Alco, remains unpaid.
I now could say, “So ends the life of Ted Williams, his final resting place now in order”, but his so-called final resting place has yet to be described, even after 7 years. His “afterlife” is as turbulent as his years on the planet. Maybe one day Ted will find a proper and final place in which to rest and reflect upon the many, many bright moments in his 83 years on Earth. Maybe even he’ll recall that fleeting moment in September of 1954 when a 12-year-old kid passed him an envelope and pen for his autograph, a moment impossible for that kid to ever forget.