Clinton Edward Willis Jr.

Clinton Edward Willis, Jr. was born February 27, 1931 in New York City. He was the only son of five children born to the late Clinton Edward, Sr. and Rachel Willis. He attended New York public schools and one of the first African Americans to enter the prestigious Bed Stuyvesant High School after passing the math entry exam. After graduating from H.S. , he convinced his mother to allow him to enlist in the Army Air Force at the tender age of sixteen.

After his military service he worked for the Brooklyn Naval Shipyard as a data processor. He attended Columbia University receiving a B.A. in Education. With a lifelong love of letters, he went on to earn his B.S. in Computer Science and M.A. in Education from New York University and a Ph.D. in Education from UCLA.

Clint or Kent, as he was sometimes called, was a jazz aficionado (Sarah Vaughn and Nancy Wilson were two of his favorites), poet (Langston Hughes his mentor), avid reader, sports fan, tennis player, world traveler, African American history buff and civil rights activist. He was a member of the Harlem Parents Committee, Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), Masons, NAACP and Blacks in Government.

He married Phyllis Louise Dixon of Jacksonville, Florida in 1956 and from this union three children were born; Terri, Alison and Guy. They made their home in East Harlem and moved to Willingboro, New Jersey when his work took him to Philadelphia. Widowed at an early age he took on the role of a single father.

Out of necessity he then became a (master) chef, coiffure, nurse and event planner among other things. He enjoyed family time, taking family photos and directing Broadway show tunes such as Oliver’s “Consider Yourself at Home”. Suffice it to say Clint was a family man through and through.

He married Shirley Moore Warren in 1972 and the family grew with two stepchildren, James and Jennifer and two more children April and Colin. The family relocated to Severna Park, Maryland when his employment with the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics took him to Washington, D.C.

Clinton’s career spanned federal and state government and the private sector as a computer operator, systems analyst and engineer, consultant and trainer. Among the many places he worked were US Naval Institute, IBM, The Burlington County (NJ) Times and as a Director of Training for the State of Maryland.

After suffering a stroke in 1999, he relocated to Dallas, TX to be near his daughter Alison and her family for nursing care. Saying goodbye to his children and grandchildren, Clinton’s final journey took place in the early afternoon of Friday, June 26, 2015 when he travel led from his bed at the Methodist Richardson Memorial Center into the arms of the Lord to his eternal rest.

He leaves to cherish his memory:

The children: Terri Willis Molyneaux (Maryland); Alison Willis Jones (Rickey) of Garland, TX, Guy Clinton Willis (Utah), April Jeanne Willis (Georgia), Colin Blaise Willis (Adrienne) of Mississippi, Jennifer Warren Tyler (California) and James Roy Warren (New Jersey).

The sisters: Jeanne Koger Willis of New York City, Valerie Carol Scott Pearson of Hollis, Long Island, NY and Joan Patricia Willis Horton of Mount Vernon, NY. He was predeceased by Jacqueline Elaine Schoonmaker of New York.

The grandchildren; Keenan, Khalil, Chinyere (deceased) Rickey, Quincy, Ryan, Alexander, James Reagan Ali, Dylan, Madison, Isaiah, Kennedy, Isabella, Jared and one great-grandson, his namesake Maxwell Clinton Willis of Euless Texas.

And a host of nieces, nephews, relatives and friends.