Obituary: Alan Williams, 41, of Thomaston

Obituary via Lyons Funeral Home

Alan M. Williams

February 23, 1983 ~ August 13, 2024 (age 41)

Thomaston – Alan Williams, 41, passed away unexpectedly on Tuesday, August 13th, 2024. He was the beloved husband of Milena Cassiani Vasquez.

Alan was born February 23,1983, at Bristol Hospital, the son of the Arthur Williams and Joyce (Pierpont) Williams. He was raised in Thomaston, attended local schools and was a graduate of Thomaston High School, class of 2001.

Alan was a loving, multi-talented, and accomplished individual, with a keen wit and great sense of humor, irreplaceable to all who knew him. Alan was a loving husband to his wife Milena and the two of them were inseparable. They especially loved vacationing together on Cruises and visiting Colombia, Milena’s home country. He was a loving son and brother who was fondly known has the “cool” uncle to his nieces and nephew who spent hours upon hours swimming, ice fishing, playing videos games and board games with him.

It is hard to remember and list all of Alan’s talents and exceptional abilities. Growing up, he teamed up with his twin brother Troy, as standout athletes in Thomaston’s youth sports leagues. In particular, he was a Little League Baseball All-star starter on a team that reached the semi-finals in the district tournament and one of the leading goal scorers for Thomaston’s first and very successful, “A” division travel soccer team. He was also a strong swimmer and enjoyed times with his family and friends at his grandmother’s pool. In high school he became an award-winning artist, a leading man and star on the stage for the schools’ musical productions and a champion athlete. All of his athletic activities as a youth had well prepared him for long distance running, and that is where he truly excelled.

Alan set himself apart as one of the most decorated and greatest runners in Thomaston High School history. A detailed list of those accomplishments is far too numerous to list, but most notably included; A Berkshire League (BL) individual Boy’s Cross-Country title where he set the course record and led his team to the team title, multiple time BL championships in track in the long-distance events, a State individual Boy’s Cross-Country title where he also led that team to the State Championship title. An individual State Championship title in the 3000-meter run. He was named to the both the All-State Cross-Country and Track teams in both his junior and senior years. He was the first Thomaston cross-country athlete to qualify and run in the New England cross-country championship which he accomplished in both his junior and senior years. He also ran in the 2000 Junior Olympics National Championship finishing 22th in the nation.

In the classroom he was a brilliant student especially in the area of mathematics where he was often referred to as a human calculator. In fact, he was usually faster. He just missed a perfect score on the mathematical component of the SAT’s. He graduated near the top of his class and won numerous Scholar-Athlete awards. He was a leader who earned the respect and admiration by the entire school body who elected him as their student council president for his senior year. He was a heavily recruited athlete that had offers from every Ivy league school before deciding upon the University of Pittsburg, and then transferring to UCONN to finish his Bachler’s degree as a Dean’s List student in Molecular and Cellular Biology, which qualified as pre-med.

He became fluent in Spanish and went on to earn a second degree in Medical Science at the Medical School at Universidad de Ciencias Medicas in San Jose, Costa Rica. He was then accepted into the medical school at the same University and studied there for the next 6 years. It was during this time that his running and promising career as a doctor was cut short when he suffered a severe back injury, followed by a failed back surgery. He was an unfortunate example of the limitations of medical care as his doctors could never effectively treat his back issues.

He continued adult life as a self-employed entrepreneur, a power-seller on eBay, and more recently a very successful stock trader, taking advantage of the bull market environment for stocks following the Covid recovery. His flexible schedule allowed him to be an expert and avid fisherman, and he could walk straight out of his backdoor to walk the hiking trails of Northfield Dam with his best friend, his faithful dog, Mr. Beans and/or his wife Milena and fish at his favorite spots also at Northfield Dam.

Due to his advanced medical training, Alan and his mother Joyce, a registered nurse, were the family medical experts and consultants. They had many a conversation way above the knowledge of everyone else to determine the correct medical treatment required. Family members never had a treatment or took a medication without consulting them first, and their advice was unmeasurably helpful to their family and others. It didn’t end there, as Alan’s independent research that he accomplished in addressing his mother’s leukemia diagnosis, uncovered a breakthrough that many doctors were unaware of. This finding resulted in positive, life changing care for many current CML patients and yet to be determined how many more well into the future due to his efforts.

A life-long sports enthusiast, he followed the Indiana Pacers, Boston Red Sox and Denver Broncos and of course all of the UCONN teams. He could always tell you all of the active players in the entire NBA and NFL and most of them in baseball.

In addition to his wife and parents, he is survived by his twin brother Troy and his wife Kate, their children, Troy Alan Williams and Elise Williams, his younger sister Rebecca Pellot, her daughter Adeline Pellot and numerous aunts’, uncles’ and cousins.

A Celebration of Life will be held at St. Peter’s Trinity Episcopal Church on Sunday, September 1st at 1:30 pm.

Memorial contributions may be made in Alan’s name to a pet rescue organization of your own choice.