Past, present City of Cape Girardeau civil workers remember Williams

Former City of Cape Girardeau housing assistance coordinator Steve Williams passed away Monday, Jan. 1. With his work on grants, Williams helped bring about the Cape Area Family Resource Center and also played a part in saving the Marquette building from being razed.

City of Cape Girardeau city planner Ryan Shrimplin said Williams helped the city in many different ways across his career.

"Part of it was his experience in the housing and the construction industry, which was instrumental in securing many grants throughout the years, a lot of them housing related or community development related," Shrimplin said. "So you think of the impact of that kind of investment in our community over decades. That was all facilitated by Steve, because he managed those projects."

Shrimplin said the total investment in those projects exceeded $66 million. He said one of Williams' top traits was going beyond expectations.

"Steve was very good at stretching the dollar on projects, so he knew how to package different funding sources to try to maximize a project," Shrimplin said. "He would reach out to a community, a local community organization and get them to provide volunteers to come out and paint and clean the property, things in addition to what the contractor was doing, just to give the homeowner a little more value"

First Missouri State Bank executive vice president and former 2002-10 Mayor Jay B. Knudtson said Williams was "critical" to the community in his job as housing assistance coordinator. He said Williams was able to bring the American dream to various people through homeownership.

"It's one thing to have programs and grants and they always sound real good in theory, but unless you have a leader and implementer to connect it to those various programs with the actual folks that need it so bad," Knudtson said. "Steve, he just really served a significant role within the City of Cape Girardeau, and actually was a big part of changing people's lives."

According to the City of Cape Girardeau, Williams helped with programs such as flood buyouts, community development block grants, the old Saint Francis Hospital demolition, housing tax credits and more. Knudtson said Williams was an important part to saving the Marquette building.

He said while he might've been cutting the ribbon for the building with the governor, the people behind the scenes were instrumental as well.

"He didn't need to be out in front. He was the guy behind the scenes that really allows those kinds of things to come to fruition," Knudtson said.

Knudtson said even in stressful times, Williams seemed to stay calm and possessed a "controlled demeanor."

Shrimplin said everything Williams did was through" the lens of service."

"He knew that was his, not just his job, but that was really his calling in life was to serve, serve others, serve the community," Shrimplin said.

Steve Williams retired from the City of Cape Girardeau in 2021.