Osius Park pool to benefit from gift of late former resident

GROSSE POINTE SHORES — At more than 60 years old, Grosse Pointe Shores’ Osius Park pool is in need of replacement or major repairs.

But thanks to a surprise gift from a former Shores resident, the city is well on its way to having the money to tackle such an expenditure.

During a Shores City Council meeting Dec. 12, Shores City Manager Stephen Poloni said that the Carole Ann Williams Trust had contacted him to let him know that the city would be receiving a gift of $1,238,111 from the trust.

“This was a little bit of Santa Claus coming early for Grosse Pointe Shores,” Poloni told the council.

Williams was the only child of Jack G. and Gwen B. Williams, of Grosse Pointe Shores. Jack Williams served as the Shores Village Council president from 1954 to 1964, making him the longest-tenured council president — or, since the Shores became a city, mayor — until Mayor Ted Kedzierski, who has served as the city’s top elected official since 2011.

“The only stipulation (on the gift) is that it be used for improvement of the park,” said Poloni, who asked that the council earmark the funds for the pool.

A graduate of Grosse Pointe University School — now University Liggett School — and Mount Vernon Junior College in Washington, D.C., Carole Ann Williams died May 23, 2023, at the age of 84. Her obituary said she worked in the events department for the Hudson’s department store for many years and was a member of the Junior League of Detroit and Sigma Gamma Association, as well as a former member of the Women’s Economic Club of Detroit.

Poloni said Carole Ann Williams “always had a love for our city and our park.”

“What wonderful news,” Kedzierski said of her bequest to the city.

Poloni said city staff had already been meeting with the Grosse Pointe Shores Improvement Foundation to discuss a pool project, and they plan on meeting with other stakeholders in the next couple of months and to start fundraising. It wasn’t known at press time how much a new pool would cost the city. Installation is complicated by the fact that Osius Park was created with fill dirt and movement by Lake St. Clair creates pressure on the pool walls.

“We were excited to accept it,” Poloni said of the gift from the trust. He said the city would be recognizing Carole Ann Williams and the Williams family for their generosity.