Willard S. Brandkamp

Willard S. Brandkamp, 88, born February 3, 1936 of Columbus, Ohio and formerly of Collingswood, New Jersey, sadly left us on January 17, 2024, following a courageous fight with cancer, Parkinson’s disease and Lewy Body Dementia.

Willard was preceded to Heaven by his parents, J. Stanton Brandkamp and Dorothy Brandkamp (Wight), his sister, Muriel Martin and his great niece, Cassady Martin. He is survived by his brother-in-law, George F. Martin, nephew and niece-in-law Frank and Deana Martin, niece Laurie Malony, great nieces Sarah J. Malony and Jessica G. Malony and cousin, Ed and his wife Carol Demarest.

A celebration of life visitation will be held in his honor from 4 –7 pm on Tuesday, January 23rd at Schoedinger Worthington Funeral home in Worthington, Ohio.

We invite you to make a donation in his honor to Parkinson’s research.

Willard grew up in Westwood, New Jersey, where he learned to love and play the cello and began his deep appreciation of classical music. He attended Westwood Reformed Church with his family.

While graduating from Shelton College and Faith Theological Seminary, he was a summer lifeguard at Camp-of-the-Woods, a Christian family camp in upper New York. He also loved to swim and water ski there.

Willard loved reading (mostly history, theology and mysteries) while listening to classical music.

Most of his early career was deeply involved with the 20th Century Reformation Movement. He worked in political activism, Christian radio, tourism and more.

In his retirement, he worked with the Retrospect, a town newspaper in Collingswood, New Jersey. He worked mostly as a photographer of high school and local college sporting events. He loved photographing action shots. He loved all sports and the athletes he got to watch grow up through the years, but he had a special fondness for rowing.

We want to thank the staff at Crown Pointe Care Center for their love and care of Willard over the past 4 years.

Our family affectionately called him, “Great Will”. He loved his niece and nephew, their families and great nieces deeply and was involved in their lives. His presence, unique laugh, sense of humor, puns and kazoo playing while wearing is OSU Buckeye necklace will be deeply missed, we love you Great Will!