John Bishop Willis

WILLIS, John Bishop, 83 of Columbus, Ohio passed away on Tuesday, November 11, 2014 at Riverside Methodist Hospital. He was born July 9, 1931 in Galion, OH to Dorothy (Bishop) & Elmo Willis. He graduated from Centerburg High School in 1949. He attended OSU, served in the U.S. Air Force for 4 years, and then attended Franklin University. John worked at Batel in Columbus and then moved his family to Vandalia in 1959, where he worked in the Federal Aviation Administration until his retirement in 1985. John was preceded in death by his parents, wife, Gwendolyn Willis, daughters, Connie Zelinski, Carla Richardson, and his sister, Donna Hunter. He is survived by his wife of 22 years, Kristen L. Willis; sister, Patricia Sherman of Centerburg, 2 daughters, Carol Heis of Vandalia, Cathy (Von) Shrout of Tipp City and son, John Willis Jr, of West Milton; 14 grandchildren, Alison, Brendan, Teresa, Lori, Lyndsay, Brandy, Wade, Ethan, Justin, Ben, Jamie, Mike, Olivia & Tyler and 24 great-grandchildren, numerous nieces and nephews. Funeral services will be held at 4:00 pm, Saturday, November 22 at the Morton & Whetstone Funeral Home, 139 S. Dixie Dr., Vandalia with Rev. Michael Malcosky officiating. The family will receive friends at the funeral home on Saturday from 2:00 pm until time of service. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the National Parkinson's Foundation, Gift Processing Center, PO Box 5018, Hagerstown, MD 21741-5018 in John's memory.