Willard Clark Lyons Sr
Jun 20, 1923 - Jul 14, 2018
Posted by Jo Aguirre

BARTLESVILLE EXAMINER-ENTERPRISE
BARTLESVILLE, WASHINGTON CO, OK
(permission granted)

Known as Dad, Papa and Uncle, Willard was born in Mulberry, Florida on June 20, 1923, the second son of Willard Arthur Lyons and Annie Lara Sampler Lyons. He joined the Navy when he was 17 years old and, after completing Airman Mechanics School, was assigned to the USS Hornet, CV-8, at the beginning of World War II. He served on that ship until it went down on October 26, 1942 during the battle of the Santa Cruz Islands. Having to abandon ship, he embarked on the USS Juneau and disembarked 16 days before she went down, killing all but 10. He knew he had an angel on his shoulder. During his 20-year career, he served on a total of 11 ships. He was proud to have served but humble, saying, "I was glad I could serve. I was just doing my job." Shortly after returning stateside, while in Los Angeles to visit his little sister, he met "the one woman who was meant for him", as he always said. As she worked in Los Angeles and he was stationed in San Diego, allowing them to only see each other on weekends. That was enough. After 6 dates, they were married on August 7th, 1944. At the time of her passing, they had been married for 60 years, 8 months and 16 days. He knew it down to the day. After retiring from the Navy in 1960 and moving to Bartlesville, Willard became a mail carrier and, after retiring from the Postal Service in 1978, took up the hobby of wood working as he began another career as a painter of houses, one of which was the Frank Phillips Mansion . He loved to tell stories of his service and, once in a while, of the escapades he and his brother, Carl, shared. He was so proud to be a grandpa and great-grandpa, saying it was difficult to convince people that he was 27 years old since he had a great-granddaughter who is 24!

Willard was predeceased by wife, Ann, one grandson (Phillip), his parents, his brother Albert Carlton Lyons, and sisters Mildred Lyons Russiff and Ruth Agnes Lyons Ervin.

He is survived by two children, Marjorie  Willard Clark Lyons, Jr. (Calveta), 7 grandchildren: Monica (Peter) Njoo, Kim (Tracey) Barnett, Wes (Carmen) Smith, Clay (Jennifer) Baker, Darla (Michael) Wilkinson, Whitney (Anna) Smith, LeeAnn (Jeremy) Frazier and 9 great-grandchildren. The family wishes to thank Drs. Hancock and Mehrle and their staffs, Karen Bowman and all the drivers at Bartlesville Wheelchair Ambulance, all of our friends who have been so generous with their time, support and prayers with special thanks Debbi Jones, RN, of Houston, TX and Upendra Karmacharya for their kind, compassionate care.

Visitation will be held at the Davis Family Funeral Home - Dewey Chapel, 918-534-3030, 113 S Osage (HWY 75), Dewey, on Thursday July 19 from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Funeral Services will be held 2 p.m. on Friday, July 20, at the Davis Family Funeral Home – Dewey Chapel, internment to follow at the Dewey Cemetery. Services are under direction of Cater Davis and the Davis Family Funeral Home – Dewey Chapel.

Online condolences and remembrances may be shared at www.davisfamilyfuneralhome.com.

Thank You For Your Service!