Willie Williams was born in the 1940s in Tarboro, North Carolina. Despite living in the country, he attended school in Tarboro and was working in upstate New York during the summers by the time he was in high school. After graduating from high school in 1962, Mr. Williams attended college at Fayetteville University for a time before moving to D.C. at the suggestion of a friend. When Mr. Williams first came to the District, he lived with his uncle in Fairfax Village in far Southeast. After working for a couple years, Mr. Williams joined the Army. After leaving the Army in 1969, Mr. Williams and his wife moved back to Washington and lived near 28th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue SE. He worked at the United States Postal Service for a several years before taking advantage of the G.I. Bill and enrolling at Federal City College (now UDC). After four or five years of part-time enrollment he graduated in 1977 with a degree in business education. Mr. Williams then attempted to become a CPA but ultimately didn't complete his certification, and he went on to work a variety teaching positions (teaching accounting for the National Park and Planning Commission in Maryland, teaching typing at Cortez Peters Business College, and substitute teaching in D.C. Public Schools) before becoming a realtor. Mr. Williams remained in Washington after his retirement in 1992, but some time after 2016, he moved to Kennesaw, Georgia.