Jay Milton Willis was born in Fort Smith, Arkansas, on August 14, 1940. His family residence was in Van Buren Arkansas, where he graduated from school. Upon graduation in 1958, he attended the University of Arkansas receiving an Industrial Management Degree. He has fond memories of calling the hogs since he was knee high to a grasshopper. He was a member of Kappa Sigma fraternity and served as an officer.
Jay served his country by joining the U.S. Navy in 1963 and attended Officer’s Candidate School in New port, Rhode Island. He served aboard the USS Northampton CC1 and was an engineering officer on the cruiser stationed at Virginia Beach, Virginia. After 18 months he was transferred to Mayport, Florida, and served aboard the USS Bigelow DD942 until honorably discharged. He happily accepted employment at Texas Instruments, Dallas, Tx for 32 years.
His hobbies included fishing in the TI Bass Club for 25 years receiving many plaques for the largest fish caught for many tournaments. He fished in Arkansas, Texas and Louisiana and Alaska. His favorite fishing lakes were Caddo, Fork and Monticello. He enjoyed a lifetime of playing golf in Arkansas accomplishing his first hole in one at Fort Smith County Club and his second in Richardson, Tx at Sherrill Park on hole #16 course 2. He played in the Richardson Senior Golf League for 20 years. He was a pretty decent bridge player but struggled with duplicate not able to keep his fingers off the cards but calling for the card instead! Jay was a better blackjack player.
Jay loved to travel seeing the world in the Navy, in his employment at TI and leisure travel with his wife, LaVell and family. He missed traveling to the Australian continent, but he visited England, France, Greece, Africa, Spain, Italy, Russia, Germany and Alaska numerous times cruising the Atlantic and Pacific, the Baltic, the Adriatic, the Mediterranean and enjoying Mexico and South America and all the Caribbean Islands, going thru the Panama Canal two times and going thru the Straits of Magellan visiting the Antarctica.
Jay is survived by his wife, LaVell Oxford Willis for 56 happily married years. His son, James Marshall Willis (Brenda O. Willis) with residences in Dallas, Texas and Ruidoso, N. Mexico, his daughter, Lisa Marie Willis Carrell Templeton (G. Mark Templeton) residing in Center Grove, Mississippi, and grandchild Dillon A. Carrell (AnnaGrace M. Carrell) residing in Biloxi, MS.
Memorial donations may be made to Christ United Methodist Church, 3701 Coit Rd., Plano, TX 75075 or Disabled American Veterans. Thank you for the donations.