The Yukon's medical community has lost a venerable member of its clan.

Dr. Anne Williams died unexpectedly Tuesday after a mishap at her Silver City cabin.

She was 60 years old.

Dr. Ken Quong, the president of the Yukon Medical Association, had only kind words for the woman he'd known almost all his life.

"Our parents were really good friends up here in the '50s ... we go back many, many years,” he said, crediting Williams with being one of the prime reasons he returned to practise medicine in the territory.

Williams was a "binding glue in our community,” Quong said Thursday.

"It's going to be very sad as we carry forward; we really lost someone huge in our community.”

Quong called her a lovely person, a ready listener, but always willing to speak her mind.

"She listened to what people had to say, listened to your opinions, even if you differed in opinion, she really was a fantastic listener,” he said.

"There's some members of our communities that form the fabric of a medical community....”

Quong said he'll remember Williams as she was on their many hikes in Kluane National Park, "exploring a part of the world that she and her husband loved so much.”

For her colleagues, another story may spring to mind – when Dr. Said Secerbegovic played a practical joke on her in Watson Lake.

When Williams was still new to the Watson Lake hospital, Secerbegovic came in as a trauma patient and pretended to die, Quong shared.

"It was kind of an April fool's joke, and he really got her going,” Quong said.

Dr. Brendan Hanley, the Yukon's chief medical officer of health, called Williams the consummate family physician,” noting she was always there for her patients.

"She was someone that never, never had an unkind word, and had a very compassionate approach to her practice,” Hanley said this morning.

"She certainly will be deeply missed, not only by her patients and the community at large, but it will be deeply felt in the medical community as well,” he said.

It has been "very moving” to hear the many tributes from her colleagues, Hanley added.

Dr. Rao Tadepalli, the president of the medical staff at the Yukon Hospital Corp., remembered how Williams welcomed him when he first came to the territory some 14 years ago.

"She was a supportive colleague and helped me establish here into the community,” he said.

"She made feel at ease.”

The past president of the Yukon Medical Association, Tadepalli commented that he often sought Williams' advice on issues.

He called her an example to all physicians.

"She was a caring colleague who had great compassionate care for her patients, and that's what really mattered.”

Williams cared deeply about the provision of care for victims of sexual assault, both women and children, said Tadepalli.

He noted that she organized conferences and training opportunities for both doctors and nurses and often acted as a bridge between medical and social services for rape survivors.

When Williams returned to practice in the Yukon, she spent her first five years as a locum, travelling all over the territory.

In a post on the Yukon MD website, Williams wrote that her experience as a locum gave her a valuable perspective on the Yukon health system outside of Whitehorse.

"My family and I later moved to Whitehorse where I set up practice, but having these connections to rural Yukon has enhanced my career experience both on a personal and professional level,” she wrote.

Williams managed her practice in Whitehorse from 1992 to 2007.

Over her career, she also served as the associate chief of staff for the Watson Lake hospital, and the medical advisor for the Yukon Health Insurance Plan.

Williams leaves behind her husband, Bruce, and daughter, Jessica.