Ronald Williams, beloved grandpa who had millions of followers on TikTok, has died at 79

• The grandson of Ronald Williams announced on Wednesday that Williams had died.
• Williams was a beloved TikTok personality who called his followers "grandchildren."
• His grandson, Ryan Adams, posted memories from his videos in a TikTok compilation video.

Beloved TikTok personality Ronald Williams, who had more than 9 million followers on the app, has died, according to his grandson. He was 79 years old.

Williams' grandson, Ryan Adams, announced that his grandpa died in a post on Williams' TikTok account, @ronaldwilliamsofficial, on Wednesday. The video featured highlights from Williams' TikTok videos including him and Adams, who frequently appeared in his videos.

"Thanks for the good times. Ronald Williams will never be forgotten," reads the caption of the video, which has over 3.8 million likes and 24 million views as of Thursday afternoon. "RIP Grandpa."

Williams was born in 1941, according to information listed in both his TikTok bio and YouTube channel description. He posted on September 26, 2020, that he turned 79 years old. Also known on some platforms as Grandpa Lou Pickles due to his resemblance to the character from "Rugrats," Williams built a social media following throughout 2020, becoming a major presence on TikTok in particular as well as YouTube and Instagram.

He referred to his millions of TikTok followers as his grandchildren.

His first TikTok video was posted on February 3, 2020. In it, Williams greets the audience, asks, "Don't I look like Grandpa Lou Pickles?" and promises that more TikTok videos would be on the way.

Williams continued posting regularly on TikTok over the course of 2020, first hitting 1 million followers in April of last year. He frequently played "Hit or Miss," a TikTok game involving jelly fruit candies started by TikToker Jaden Sprinz.

Adams, whose own TikTok handle is @watchyourhaircut, appeared in several of his grandfather's videos. In an email, Adams described Williams as "full of joy and happiness" and "a real life cartoon character (in a very good way)." He told Insider that Williams had dementia, and that they started making videos together after he moved in with Adams' parents.

"The way you see him on the videos is exactly how he was off camera," Adams told Insider in the email. "Honestly I couldn't capture every great moment we had but we sure got a lot of it to look back on. He always put others first and wanted to make sure he could make someone feel good and happy. He never stressed about anything and hardly ever got upset. He showed me to appreciate the little things and to just enjoy life. He was so pure. His smile would literally brighten up the room."

In late February, Adams posted a video on Williams' account to let the audience know that they were taking a break from TikTok. He said Williams was in the hospital and asked people to keep him in their prayers. Other creators shared messages of support with Williams in video compilations that were posted to Williams' account before Adams announced that he had passed on Wednesday.

Adams told Insider that Williams had served in the Army and that he loved to "play the blues," which his arthritis made more difficult. He also said that Williams played in bands with iconic American musician Frank Zappa (there are records of a Ronald "Ronnie" Williams playing with Zappa), and that his other hobbies were fishing and surfing.

In another video posted to Williams' account, Adams asked audiences to share their feelings about his grandfather and what he meant to them.

"My grandpa meant so much to me. He taught me how to be myself. He broke my shyness," Adams said in the video. "Nothing would bother this man. He was full of joy. His soul is the most purest I've ever seen in my life. He was my best friend. He's the best grandpa I could ever ask for, and he's in a better place where he's not in pain anymore."

Adams told Insider that he "never had to worry what he thought of me because he would never judge me or anyone," and said that he "felt such at peace" while with Williams.

Fans have flooded the comments of the most recent videos with messages of support and love, with some posting videos remembering him.

"He loved every single one of you," Adams said in his own video. "He did call you his grandkids for a reason, because he cared about you a lot. Not only you were happy to see him on these videos. It made him happy to see you happy."