Uncrowned Community Builders

Yvonne Williams was Erie County Health Department's first black public health nutritionist. Ms. Williams worked 18 years for the health department. She was a native of Montclair, New Jersey. She was considered the first black to graduate as a nutritionist from Buffalo State College in 1970 and held a Master's degree in public health nutrition from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio.

She also taught nutrition at the University at Buffalo and Buffalo State College and lectured about nutrition throughout the community. Family members said she was committed to cutting the high infant mortality rate among the poor. She would carry her concerns for the poor outside of work finding necessary items, such as food, refrigerators for the needy. She was chief adviser for the NYS Department of Social Services nutrition education. She also was an adviser on the Buffalo Food Pantry Coalition.

Mrs. Williams was just 40 years old at the time of her death and is buried at Forest Lawn Cemetery