Ted Williams' Tragic Life After Death

The Family Feud Over the Baseball Greats Corpse

Immediately after baseball Hall of Famer Ted Williams' death in 2002, his son, John-Henry Williams, had his father's remains flown to Arizona's Alcor Life Extension Foundation. To this day, the baseball legend's head and body have been suspended in liquid nitrogen in separate containers at Alcor's cryogenics lab.

Cryogenic suspension is a procedure where a human body's tissues are preserved by cooling to low sub-zero temperatures until resuscitation may be possible in the future. Bobby-Jo Ferrell, Ted Williams' daughter from his first marriage, sued her half-brother John-Henry and half-sister Claudia, to prevent this from happening. She showed that her father's original will stated his intent of having his remains be cremated and his ashes spread in the Atlantic Ocean off the Florida Keys, where he loved to fish. In court, however, John-Henry produced a "document" issued after the will. This was a piece of scrap paper bearing Ted, John-Henry, and Claudia Williams' signatures. This paper stated the desire of all three to have their remains put in "Bio-stasis after we die." This later document superceded the original will in court.

Bobby-Jo Ferrell also contended that her half-brother wanted to preserve her father in order to preserve his DNA to "perhaps sell it."

Besides members of Williams' family, issues were raised by some members of the press, in particular Sports Illustrated Magazine, about the physical state of Ted Williams' remains. Alcor had severed Williams' head from his body despite John-Henry Williams' desire to have his father placed in full body suspension.

While most mainstream media had reported that Williams' full body was in full suspension and in good condition, Sports Illustrated wound up conducting its own investigation of the facility. Their probing led to the conclusion that all wasn't well; that there had been "problems with storage of Williams' head." There were ten cracks in the head, one of them large; and the facility drilled holes in the head "to observe the brain condition."

A side note: John-Henry Williams owed Alcor a balance of $100,000 for the cryogenic preservation.