'He Was and Is Our Hero'

SEVEN MONTHS AFTER ACTOR TREAT WILLIAMS'S TRAGIC DEATH, HIS WIFE AND TWO CHILDREN OPEN UP ABOUT THEIR GRIEF AND HOW THEY'RE CELEBRATING HIS LIFE

- JP MANGALINDAN

When Treat Williams was preparing for a new role, he would sit behind the wheel of one of his tractors, driving around the backyard of his Manchester, Vt., homestead, belting show tunes like Man of La Mancha's "The Impossible Dream" with his warm baritone voice. "You could hear that from across the farm over the [noise of the] tractor," recalls his son Gill. But the impromptu musical performances stopped seven months ago, and Treat's tractors now sit quiet.

The actor, whose decades-long career included roles in Hair, Everwood, Chesapeake Shores and Blue Bloods, died on June 12 at age 71 following a motorcycle accident in Dorset, Vt. (Police said an SUV driver, Ryan Koss, turned into Williams's path; Koss pleaded not guilty to a charge of gross negligent operation with death resulting, and a trial date has not yet been set.) The Golden Globe- and Emmy-nominated actor's tragic death surprised fans and former costars-and devastated his wife, Pam, and their two children, Gill and Ellie. "I think because of the suddenness of it, there was absolutely no preparation, so I'm still grappling with the fact that it happened and that he's really gone," says Pam, 68. "It just feels like such a hole in our family and the fabric of the world. The whole atmosphere feels different."