Famed tumbling team mourns as members bring legacy to national stage
It’s been a bittersweet week for the Jesse White Tumbling Team.
Members are mourning the death of one of their own as they bring the team’s storied legacy to the national stage.
On Monday night, longtime team member Jeff Williams was killed in a crash in northwest suburban Mundelein. A day later, Chicago watched as the hometown team auditioned for — and ultimately moved forward — in this season of “America’s Got Talent.”
“We are hurt by his death, (we’re) very saddened by that,” tumbling coach and friend Emmanuel McGhee said in an interview with the Tribune on Thursday. “But at the same time, we’re very happy to go to the next round. I think he (would) want us to go to the next round.”
Williams, 34, of Evanston, collided with a Honda SUV near the intersection of Route 45 and Route 83 and was ejected from his vehicle. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Mundelein police said the crash remained under investigation.
Jesse White remembered Williams as “the life of the party.”
“He was a gentleman in every way,” the former Illinois secretary of state told the Tribune. “He always got along well with his teammates.”
Williams worked in the accounting revenue department of the secretary of state’s office. White, through his 24-year tenure as secretary of state, remembers hiring Williams.
“He was a bright star,” White said. “He was a good guy.”
McGhee described Williams as an “outstanding individual,” both on and off the field.
“He was always caring, always loving, always committed,” McGhee said.
Williams served on the team for more than 20 years, McGhee said. In that time, he earned the nickname Superman for his role as a flyer in performances.
“He was just so kind to all of the youngsters; he poured into their lives in a very positive way,” McGhee said. “Jeff will always be remembered for his infectious smile, his high energy, his positive energy.”
Williams’ mother is in the process of planning services, McGhee said. He leaves behind seven children.
White said the team is now “talking about what we can do to participate in his going away” and how members might honor him in the near future. The team also plans to dedicate their next performance on “America’s Got Talent” to Williams, McGhee said.
Tuesday’s pre-taped episode marked the fifth night of auditions for this season of the NBC talent show, which is now in its 21st rendition. The Jesse White Tumbling Team was one of 16 acts that performed and one of 10 to move forward to the next round of performances. The tumbling team received a standing ovation and a “yes” from all four judges.
“(We) knew that this was a big deal,” McGhee said. “So we had to bring our best quality and our best efforts.”
Asked how they came to audition, McGhee and White said it was “AGT” that reached out first. The show contacted the team last year to see if the tumblers might want to participate in the next season. The team had previously appeared in an early season of the show back in 2009 but was eliminated after the second round.
The opportunity is exciting to say the least, McGhee said, between the opportunity itself and the opportunity to share the team’s story with a wider audience.
White, now 92, founded the Jesse White Tumblers in 1959, making this year the group’s 67th in existence. The politician started the team as a positive force for school-age kids, to keep kids in school, off drugs and out of gangs through athletic acrobatic practice and performance.
McGhee said it “means the world” to carry on the legacy and hopes that through this experience, “we show them who we are.”
It’s a familiar story. The Jesse White Tumblers’ performance comes nearly a year after Chicago’s own Leo High School finished in fourth place in last year’s season of “AGT.” For months, the city cheered on as the Auburn Gresham-based Catholic school — long known as a place where young Black and brown men are nurtured to succeed — made Chicago proud.
McGhee said the team is already preparing for the next round, which will entail a series of live shows starting in mid-August.
As they move forward, McGhee said the team is doing its best to “remain as one.” Williams would have wanted them to win.
“We’re family,” McGhee said. “Jeff will want us to stick together.”
SOURCE: CHICAGO TRIBUTE