Radio host Lisa Williams reveals mother's Alzheimer's diagnosis influenced retirement

Retired AM800 morning show host Lisa Williams received a lifetime achievement award on Oct. 18, 2024. (Travis Fortnum/CTV News Windsor)

While accepting a lifetime achievement award Friday night, longtime local radio host Lisa Williams revealed a deeply personal challenge she’s been facing since 2018: her mother’s diagnosis with Alzheimer’s disease.

Williams retired from her role as co-host of AM800’s The Morning Drive in May after 38 years on the airwaves.

“My mother's condition is really the main reason I chose to retire from my career when I did,” she told the audience at the Windsor-Essex Chamber of Commerce gala. “I didn't talk about what our family was going through on the air out of respect for my parents’ privacy, but I choose to share this tonight with my family's permission because I think talking about it can help others understand the disease.”

According to Statistics Canada approximately 750,000 Canadians are living with Alzheimer’s.

Williams said the burden of the illness has major impacts on families.

“My family and I are learning as we go and will continue to advocate for my mom and lend help and support to other families where we can,” she said. “To people who ask what I'm doing now, I'm doing that.”

The retired broadcaster’s mother, Margaret Williams, is a community figure in her own right.

Margaret served three terms on Windsor city council in the 1990s.

She also helped found and lead the Windsor and Essex County Cancer Centre Foundation after twice battling cancer herself.

Dedicating her award to her mother, Lisa described her as, “The smartest woman I’ve known. One who always had an answer for every question I had and one who has achieved more in her lifetime than I ever will.”

Since her diagnosis with Alzheimer’s in 2018, Williams said it has been a difficult journey for her mother.

“Over the years, it has slowly robbed her of her ability to think, learn, and remember, and, really, robbed her of her identity,” Lisa said.

Before receiving a standing ovation, Williams concluded her acceptance speech by assuring the audience that her commitment to the community remains strong, even in retirement.