August 4, 1886 – June 11, 1968
JJ Williams Jr., the founder of Williams Parker, was born in Memphis, Tennessee, where his father served as mayor from 1898–1906. Williams graduated from the University of Virginia with a B.A. in 1907 and an LL.B.
in 1909. He was admitted to the bar in Tennessee and practiced law in Memphis with future US Senator Kenneth McKellar. In 1925, Williams moved with his family to Sarasota and soon thereafter opened a law office on the top floor of the city’s first skyscraper, the First Bank and Trust Building, located at Five Points in downtown Sarasota. Williams Parker occupied those top floor offices until 1963. Williams Parker’s offices at Plaza at Five Points today occupy nearly the same space the firm did during the firm’s first 38 years.
The lawyer of choice for Sarasota’s most prominent banks, real estate developers, families, and businesses, Williams helped shape the growth and development of Sarasota’s skyline, neighborhoods, schools, hospitals, and philanthropic institutions. Williams was instrumental in the organization of Venice-Nokomis Bank, First Federal Savings & Loan Association of Sarasota, and Sarasota State Bank. He served two terms as
Sarasota city attorney (1933–1934 and 1938–1940). He was instrumental in bringing vital WPA projects to Sarasota during the Great Depression, and in 1945 was appointed to a citizens advisory committee to act as an unofficial cabinet on matters of civic interest.
Williams and his wife, Money, were married 49 years. They had four children, one of whom, Charlotte, would marry W. Davis Parker in 1945. Williams was a director of the Chamber of Commerce, a member of the advisory board of the Salvation Army, and a director of the Sarasota Youth Center, which later became the YMCA. He was chairman of the Heart Fund Drive for Sarasota County, a member of the Elks Lodge, president of Kiwanis, a Knight Templar, a Shriner, and a member of the board of trustees of First Presbyterian Church.