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Gibsonville Mayor Lenny Williams retires

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An avalanche of accolades inundated a day of high tribute for long time Gibsonville Mayor Leonard “Lenny” Williams, who received hours of sparkling praise on his 91st birthday, January 25, when he chose to retire as one of the oldest and, possibly, longest serving Black municipal leaders in North Carolina.

His day of non-stop honor began with a happy late morning public reception in festive decorated entrance of the Gibsonville Community Center, a multipurpose facility he championed in the town that straddles Eastern Guilford and Western Alamance counties. Later, Williams joined his wife Connie and family members in late afternoon gala celebration in the facility’s basketball court transformed into glittering dinner club atmosphere.

“When I walked into the room, I was in disbelief,” he said with characteristic soft-spoken humility several times to more than 200 invited guests including area public officials, community leaders and cavalcade of speakers who heaped praise.

In honoring the affable mayor, speaker after speaker recounted his perseverance despite humble beginnings in East North Carolina in Enfield, Person County, tenth of 14 children in a tobacco-harvesting sharecropper family, who overcame economic and familial adversity — his mother died when he was five — attaining academic successes and professional accomplishments. His strong, insistent, inspiring father encouraged young Williams to honor his mother with personal achievement, eventually attending elementary school at age nine, serving as his high school valedictorian, earning an accounting degree at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, followed by a master’s degree in business administration. After retiring from the Internal Revenue Service in 1964, he focused on public service.

Following tributes as a “bridge builder” from messages delivered from former President Joe Biden, N.C. Gov. Josh Stein and other officials, Melvin “Skip” Alson, chair, Guilford County Board of Commissioners, encapsulated the exceptional exponents of Mayor Williams in the evening’s keynote remarks “about a man who had dedicated his life to service others with grace, humility and an unwavering commitment to making Gibsonville the best it can be,”

Alson prompted honored chuckles, saying, “As Lenny would always remind us with a smile, he’s never lost an election.” After eight years a town alderman, Williams was elected mayor in 2001, in a town, serving seven terms, in a town two-thirds White. “For as long as I have known him, Lenny’s tenure as mayor has been nothing short of transformative,” he said, emphasizing Williams as resourceful and responsible “budget hawk,” who worked to decrease the town’s tax rate from 64 cents to 49 cents per $100 valuation, “a testament to his commitment to fiscal responsibility.”

The Guilford County Commissioner ended his remarks, reading an official proclamation recognizing the personal, civic, and public service accomplishments of Mayor Williams, highlighting his commitment to serve, making an indelible impact on the town, creating a legacy of integrity, service and community spirit that will endure for generations.

To thunderous applause, Williams said his retirement meant more time with family, and special time for anybody “I can help, in anyway.”