GUEST COLUMN: Congratulations to my longtime friend | Community | lufkindailynews.com - Lufkin Daily News

I would like to congratulate Kenneth Williams on his induction into the Prairie View Interscholastic League Coaches Association Hall of Honor.

I have known Ken since he graduated from high school in 1973. We both lived on McMullen Street. I lived between North Raguet and Old Mill Road.

At that time, it was an almost all-white neighborhood. Ken lived between Old Mill Road and Kurth Drive, which was an all-Black neighborhood. Ken was dirt poor. He lived with his mother in what is called a shotgun shack.

When I met Ken, he was shy and didn’t say very much. I liked him immediately.

I remember when Ken went to work for the city of Lufkin. It was the same time he was going to college and starting a family. He started out at the bottom but soon worked his way up. He rose in the ranks to become the head of the building code enforcement and eventually became the assistant city manager with his own office.

I thought Ken would become the city manager some day. That didn’t happen as the city wanted someone with more experience. Case in point is Jason Arnold, who was the assistant city manager under Keith Wright, who wasn’t promoted when Mr. Wright retired. For whatever reason, Ken wasn’t promoted to city manager. It was Lufkin’s loss. Ken did become the city manager of Diboll. Later he moved close to Austin where he is now the city manager of Buda.

Some people may remember Ken as an SBOA official. He refereed many high school basketball games in this area and region. I have more respect for Kenneth Williams than any man I have ever known except for my father and grandfather. Mostly because I know where he came from.

Ken is smart, hard working and honest to a fault. But the thing I like most about him is what I think is his best trait and that is he is loaded with common sense. Ken is what every father wants his son to become.

Just to clarify, I am a white man. So yes, Black and white can get along together. They can work and play together and be friends. Ken is close to retirement. If or when that happens, I hope he moves back to Lufkin so we can sit around in our old age and talk basketball. I miss my friend.

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July 14, 2021 at 12:30PM
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GUEST COLUMN: Congratulations to my longtime friend | Community | lufkindailynews.com - Lufkin Daily News
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