George F. Williams

George F. Williams (1921 to 1978) looked after Billerica's shade trees, its fight against the gypsy moth and its parks for almost thirty years. He joined the Public Works Department on July 7, 1948, and retired on June 29, 1977, as Tree Warden and Moth and Park Superintendent.

In 1948 Alfred F. Lyons resigned as Tree Warden and Moth Superintendent, and Philip Peterson, who took over his duties, also resigned. Williams then served as acting Tree Warden and Moth Superintendent "pending results of a civil service examination", and in 1949 he was appointed to the position permanently. In his first report, for November and December 1948, he wrote that he had cleared dangerous corners, painted the egg clusters of the gypsy moth with "Gipsy Moth Creosote," and had an Arlington sprayer overhauled for the spring spraying. From 1950 he also supervised the work on the town's parks, among them the Oval in North Billerica and James Reddy Square.

Much of his career was taken up with Dutch elm disease. In 1952 he reported that nineteen of twenty-six samples he had sent away came back positive, that the money allowed the year before "was only a drop in the bucket," and that "I dread to think of what the outcome will be with the Elm trees, if this disease is not controlled." After Hurricanes Carol and Edna in 1954 his crews cleared the debris, and the selectmen quoted him: "At least the hurricanes have helped by removing some of the many elm trees affected with Dutch Elm disease." In 1963 his department planted 32 shade trees, took down 90 diseased elms, fewer than the 130 of the year before, and switched to Sevin as a substitute for DDT because it was safer for birds and mammals.

In 1975, two years before he retired, the Tree Department removed 260 dead or dying shade trees, 54 of them elms with Dutch elm disease, including two of the larger elms in Billerica Center, and the Park Department cleared woodland on Campbell Road for a softball field and eight tennis courts at the Chuck Lampson Memorial Football Field. Williams died on April 24, 1978, aged 56, less than a year after his retirement, and the annual town meeting observed a moment of silence in his memory.

References

1. Report of the Board of Selectmen, 1948: Alfred Lyons retired; George Williams acting Tree Warden and Moth Superintendent pending civil service
2. Reports of the Moth Superintendent and Tree Warden, November and December 1948, signed George F. Williams
3. Report of the Board of Selectmen, 1949: George Williams appointed Tree Warden and Moth Superintendent permanently after civil service examinations
4. Parks and playgrounds report, 1950: park work supervised by George Williams, Tree Department Superintendent
5. Report on Dutch Elm Disease, 1952, signed George F. Williams, Moth Superintendent
6. Report of the Board of Selectmen, 1954: George Williams and the cleanup after Hurricanes Carol and Edna
7. Public Works report, 1963: Tree, Moth and Park Departments (Dutch elm disease, shade trees, Sevin instead of DDT)
8. Public Works report, 1975: Tree, Moth and Park Department (260 trees removed; Campbell Road softball field)
9. Appointed officers, 1977: George F. Williams, retired June 29, 1977
10. Memoriams, 1978: George F. Williams, died April 24, 1978, aged 56; Public Works Department July 7, 1948 to June 29, 1977