Pomeroy Williams, 'the best dressed man in Savannah,' remembered as good friend, public servant

With a name that sounded somewhat like royalty and the finest clothes custom-made in England, some may have assumed that the late Pomeroy Williams was stuffy. But longtime friends and colleagues remember the Savannah attorney as a down-to-earth, excellent attorney with a great sense of humor.

Additionally, whatever organization Williams volunteered for or sat on the board of (and there was a long list), he served with great gusto. Whatever the cause, Williams was there to lend a helping hand not merely to be a name on a letterhead.

Williams, who was 83, died July 27 after a short illness.

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Frank W. “Sonny” Seiler was Williams’ law partner at the Bouhan, Williams & Levy firm for many years and described him as a “fine person and an excellent lawyer in the fields of taxation, corporation and estate planning,” Seiler was quick to point out that his longtime colleague was “active in many things” and his participation was genuine and not in name only.

Bobby Logan who had known Williams since high school said he was a one-of-a-kind, down-to-earth Savannahian. “He’s not someone who will be reproduced anytime soon,” Logan said.

He was always “perfectly groomed and attired,” Logan added. Williams didn’t dress to impress, “that’s just the way he was.”

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Williams’ obituary said he was “generally considered to be the best dressed gentleman in Savannah, and even in the most casual of situations was always the most highly tailored.”

Curtis Lewis III considered Williams to be a “great friend.”

“I got to know him soon after I got out of law school, if not before that,” Lewis said. “He was one of the lawyers who encouraged me to call him if he could every offer advice, and I did occasionally call him for a bit of his wisdom.”

Lewis served on a corporate board with Williams for 40-plus years." He was always a pleasure to work with, and never lost his great sense of humor,” Lewis said.

Robert Constantine described Williams as a “great lawyer and a really fun guy.” Just a couple of weeks before Williams died, Constantine joined him and his wife Diane for nine holes of golf.

“Savannah has lost one of its finest gentlemen,” Constantine said.

Williams graduated from the University of Georgia and UGA’s law school. After graduation he joined the law firm of Bouhan, Lawrence, Williams, Levy & McAlpin, a predecessor of the current Bouhan Falligant firm.

In 1962, he entered the United States Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps as a first lieutenant and attended the Judge Advocate General’s School in Charlottesville, VA, graduating in 1963.

He was assigned to the office of the Judge Advocate General, United States Army, in Washington, D.C., promoted to captain in 1964, and honorably discharged in 1965. That same year, he received an LL.M. (in Taxation) from Georgetown University Law School and returned to Savannah to practice law.

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Savannah's Edgar Pomeroy Williams remembered as community leader, friend