Robert L. Willis

Elder Robert Lloyd “Bobby” Willis, 69, died Saturday, Jan. 14, 2017, at Providence Hospital in Mobile, AL, after a brave second battle with cancer. Born April 21, 1947, in his family’s Bay Minette, AL, home to the late Robert Young and Vada Robbins Willis, he served as an ordained minister of the Primitive Baptist faith for more than 40 years. A firm believer in putting God first, Elder Willis, of Mobile, AL, pastored Galilee Primitive Baptist Church in Stapleton, AL, and Bethel Primitive Baptist Church in Bonifay, FL. Called an inspiration to how people should live, he previously pastored churches in Mobile, south, central and east Alabama, the Florida Panhandle, and Amory and Hatley, MS., as well as his final resting place of Springhill Primitive Baptist Church in Flomaton, AL. As a minister, he traveled near and far to spread the word of God, touching countless people spanning generations across the South through his sermons, his Primitive Baptist online newsletter, marriages, funerals and “just being there for people no matter what." He also retired from the Mobile County Public School System, where he served as a beloved middle- and high-school history teacher as well as a coach. One of his greatest joys in life was instructing young people, whether in the classroom sharing his love of history, on the softball fields of Baldwin County as a longtime girl’s coach, or the tennis courts of west Mobile, where he took the Mary G. Montgomery High School team to state several times and had their courts named after him, one of his favorite accomplishments. Elder Willis graduated from Baldwin County High School in 1965 after serving as a member of the marching band, another of his favorite activities. Music continued to play an important role in his life, whether through leading hymns at his churches to volunteering for years as a band parent at BCHS. He attended Bay Minette Junior College after high school, at which time he started working at the local radio station. That began another of his long-time loves and his first career. Throughout the years, he anchored stations in Bay Minette, including the morning show and swap shop which many residents remember him for even decades later, Foley and Fairhope, AL, and Pascagoula, MS. He spent many years working at the Baldwin County Electric Cooperative in Summerdale, AL, and served on the Baldwin County Library System Board of Directors as well as other organizations and groups that helped his hometown county. For more than a decade in the late 70s and through the 80s, he was a staple on the girls’ softball fields in Bay Minette coaching his daughters’ teams. He felt so strongly that any girl who wanted to play should be able to that he would often circle the town before each practice and games, going miles out of his way, picking up his players, who to this day mention the help he gave them. One of the achievements he was most proud of is that in his 40s he returned to college to earn his teaching degree and ended up earning a spot on the tennis team at Itawamba Community College in Fulton, MS. He then received his bachelor’s degree from Mississippi University for Women in Columbus, MS. He had played tennis since his youth and had spent many a summer night on the courts in Bay Minette playing pick-up matches against young and old alike as well as many weekends competing with his oldest daughter in co-ed tournaments, but his time on the ICC team spurred decades of competitive court time for him throughout Mississippi and south Alabama. As a coach, his students were always wanting to be the one to play him because they wanted to beat him, but they never quite could. Elder Willis is survived by his wife, Brenda; daughters, Kathryn Michelle of Palm Bay, FL, and Jack McLeod of Bagram, Afghanistan, and Heather Julan and Kevin Rogers of Madison, MS; son, Jason Robert and Donna Willis of Basel, Switzerland; step-daugher, Melanie and Israel Parker of Jacksonville, FL; grandchildren, Benjamin Kevin Rogers of Oxford, MS, Bronwyn Kate McLeod of Tuscaloosa, AL, Sean Dylan McLeod of Palm Bay, FL, Logan Alexander, Zachary Luke and Brady Cole Rogers of Madison, MS, Marleigh and William Parker of Jacksonville, FL, and Marla Valentine of Norfolk, VA, and Emma Valentine of Hattiesburg, MS; sisters, Mary Bridler of Daphne, AL, Myleto Stewart of Crestview, FL, and Paulette and George Chavers of Sherman, TX; and numerous nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents and his oldest his sister, Kathleen Crain of Franklinton, LA. Services will be Monday, Jan, 16, 2017, at Faith Chapel North Funeral Home in Cantonment, FL, with visitation from 9:30 to noon. Elder Michael Roberts, Elder Ricky Harcrow, and Elder J.C. Stanaland will lead services at noon in the chapel. Interment will follow at 3 p.m. at Springhill Primitive Baptist Church in Flomaton, AL, with Elder Ed Morgan and Elder David Johnson. Pallbearers will be Sean McLeod, Logan Rogers, Ben Rogers, Dan Carnley, Gerald Manning, Michael Stubbs, Jonathan Harris, Randall Davis and Marion Hamilton. Honorary pallbearers Brady Rogers, Luke Rogers, and Bronwyn McLeod.

Tributes

Robert L. Willis

April 21, 1947 - January 14, 2017