Ted Williams Signed Frozen Family Pact

Ted Williams signed a pact with two of his children asking to be frozen after his death, according to court documents filed Thursday.

Williams' signature, along with those of son John Henry and daughter Claudia, appears at the bottom of a handwritten note dated Nov. 2, 2000 — more than three years after the baseball star signed a will asking to be cremated.

"JHW, Claudia and Dad all agree to be put into biostasis after we die," reads the pact, which family attorney Bob Goldman said was written in a Gainesville hospital room before the Hall of Fame slugger underwent surgery.

"This is what we want, to be able to be together in the future, even if it is only a chance," the document said.

In the court papers, the attorney did not say who wrote the document.

John Henry and Claudia Williams have been feuding with their half-sister since Ted Williams died July 5 at age 83 and was frozen at a cryonic lab in Arizona where the dead are preserved in hopes of someday resurrecting them.

Bobby-Jo Williams Ferrell wants to retrieve her father's body, cremate it and sprinkle his ashes off Florida's coast, as Williams' will dictates.

In a statement Thursday, John Henry and Claudia Williams said: "With relief we have provided the court with clear-cut, definitive evidence that our father's last wishes have been carried out and we hope this will bring closure to this issue."

One of Ferrell's attorneys, Richard Fitpatrick, stated that is if this is the only evidence John Henry and Claudia Williams can muster supporting their case, then Ferrell would prevail.

"We will certainly want to fully investigate the circumstances surrounding this document," said Fitzpatrick, adding that questioning of John Henry and Claudia Williams was being considered.

The note, on a piece of scrap paper, had several small dark stains. Goldman said John Henry Williams had folded the note and left it for an extended period of time in some files in the trunk of his car, where it was stained by oil or grease.

"I'm comfortable that it was authentic because my clients were there," Goldman said, without further detailing any way of authenticating the note.

Ted Williams' body is at Alcor Life Extension Foundation, an Arizona laboratory that cryogenically preserves bodies.

Alcor doesn't guarantee the preservation process and admits the technology to revive a person doesn't exist. The Web site quotes an expert in biotechnology as saying the first revival attempt could take place as early as 2040.

But Williams, according to his children, didn't shy from that risk.

"His attitude was, 'If there is a chance that we can be reunited in the future, let's take it,"' said the statement by John Henry and Claudia Williams.

The siblings also defended themselves against Ferrell's accusation that John Henry Williams wanted his father frozen so they could profit off selling his DNA.

"This is not true. These accusations have been particularly painful," the statement said.