Mark Williams Big Daddy, Buffalo's Brightest Light

Buffalo has lost its brightest light. To know Mark Williams, known to most as Big Daddy, was to know love. Whether a lifelong friend or a brief chance encounter, there is no denying the magnitude of love that Big Daddy shared with each and every one of us. While Big Daddy was a permanent fixture of the Elmwood Village, and could always be found surrounded by old and new friends in his favorite corner of Coles, his most important and cherished role was that of father to his beautiful and beloved 19 year old daughter Elizabeth. It is with profound sadness that we share the loss of such a magnificent man to such a life altering virus. 

Big Daddy was admitted to Sister's Hospital on April 2nd with complications from Covid. In an effort to save his life, he was placed in a medically induced coma and put on a ventilator by an extraordinary team of  health care professionals. Just two doors down from Big Daddy's hospital room in the ICU, Big Daddy's mother, Barbara Miles, continues her fight against Covid, and devastatingly, Big Daddy's brother Michael lost his life to Covid this past November. The scope of loss and heartbreak is almost unbearable, as is the reality of the financial implications due to ongoing and future medical expenses for the family.

We are asking now that Buffalo come together to raise money for Big Daddy and his family in an effort to ease their financial burden, and to ensure that his beautiful Elizabeth be free of financial stress in the years to come as she completes her college degree. Let this be our token of gratitude for all that Big Daddy has given to us. We will miss his infectious smile, his larger than life heartfelt hugs, but more than anything, we will miss his kindness. He was the most gentle of men and we will love him forever.  

Let's lock it down for Big Daddy Buffalo, 

The Shatzel Family