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Family Feud Over Ted Williams BodyBaseball Hall of Fame recipient's death results in feud over his final wishesJuly 16, 2002 -- The family feud over Ted Williams' body deepened Tuesday when his Will showed that he wanted to be cremated, but the executor of his estate said the slugger later decided to be frozen, reports the Associated Press. Williams, in his Will filed and made public Tuesday, said he wanted his ashes "sprinkled at sea off the coast of Florida where the water is very deep." But after he wrote his Will on Dec. 20, 1996, the Hall of Famer expressed a desire to have his body frozen, according to Albert Cassidy. "After the time of his Will, Ted chose to have his body cryonically preserved," Cassidy said. He presented no documents to support his statement and refused to say how he knew of Williams' wish to be frozen. Along with the Will, Cassidy filed a petition asking a judge that Williams' body remain in a cryonics lab in Arizona. The conflict between Williams' Will and his later wishes came hours after his three children admitted they failed to resolve a stalemate over their father's remains, perhaps setting the stage for a contentious court battle over the Will. Bobby-Jo Williams Ferrell "remains convinced that her father's last wishes were to be cremated and to have his ashes spread over the deep waters off the coast of Florida," said Richard Fitzpatrick, an attorney for Ferrell, Williams' oldest daughter. John Henry Williams and Ferrell, his half sister, have been fighting over their father's remains since the Boston Red Sox great died July 5 at age 83. John Henry Williams had the body flown to Alcor Life Extension Foundation in Scottsdale, Ariz., to be frozen, against the wishes of Ferrell. A lawyer for John Henry Williams said in a statement he believed family members could still reach an understanding and that the siblings hoped to arrive at a private resolution. Tim Hewson, CEO of PartingWishes.com explained how the feud over the body of Ted Williams has implications for all of us. "The ethical questions in this case are derived from the potential value of Ted Williams' DNA and the prospect of profiteering from his death, but there is a more fundamental question of respecting the dying wishes of Ted Williams himself. The fact of the matter is that although his Will states that he wished to be cremated, nobody really knows what he wanted. Ted Williams did have a Will, but, as is often the case, his Will was written over five years ago; many cryonics services were not even available then." Hewson goes on to say "Updating a Will can be an onerous task, particularly as one becomes more senior. It usually makes sense to keep one's funeral wishes separate from one's Will, as we do here at PartingWishes.com. It also pays to review one's Will and funeral wishes on a regular basis. Fortunately, at PartingWishes.com we allow unlimited updates at no additional charge. In the meantime, we at PartingWishes.com pass on our condolences to the Williams family, and wish for a speedy resolution." (From the Associated Press, Tuesday July 16, 2002)
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