James Darrel Willis

My dear old Dad passed away on August 20, 2017. He was 97 years old. He was an amazing man. He was born on a dusty old farm in Spring Fork Missouri, one of 5 children. He attended school through the 8th grade when the family picked up lock-stock-and-barrel and headed off to Oregon. The family lived west of Nyssa, Oregon, in a lean-to dug into the side of a hill with a canvas roof for nearly a year. He and his older brother took to the road and worked odd jobs around the western US to help support the family. He joined the army in 1942 and landed on Omaha Beach with the D-Day invasion force. He saw action in France, Belgium, Holland and Germany and fought in the Battle of the Bulge in the winter of 1944-45. Upon returning home he married Wanda Rogers and started a family. He worked many jobs until he and Wanda bought a small mom-and-pop store in Kuna, Idaho in 1961 that they transformed into Willis Department Store. After retiring from the store, he raised sheep, calves, flowers and a grew a huge garden on his two acres of land on the outskirts of Kuna. He loved his kids, grand kids, great-grand kids and great-great-grandkids. We will miss you Dad.