Willis Roy Gathright was born December 3, 1924 on the Stoner ranch which was where the Tanglewood subdivision is now located at the intersection of Sam Houston Dr. and the Houston Highway in Victoria, Texas.
Parents were John David and Sallie Mead Davies Gathright. The family moved to the Hewitt farm on the Lower Mission Valley Road when Willis was about six months old and he went to school at Mission Valley for the first and second grade then to Mitchell School for grades three and four, Nursery School for fifth through eighth, then to Patti Welder, graduating in 1942.
Willis entered the Navy on June 25, 1943, and served 19 months in the Pacific, participating in several assault landings before going to Japan for the surrender ceremonies. He returned to Victoria College after discharge in 1946 receiving an AA degree in 1948; spent a year at the University of Houston in Houston then transferred to the University of Corpus Christi. He was recalled to the Navy for the Korean War on September 1st of 1950 and sent to Hawaii where he was assigned to the USS Epperson DDE 719. The ship was ordered to Japan, then Korea, Taiwan and joined task force 77 operating off the northern coast of Korea where they participated in bombing operations in support of American and South Korean forces.
After release on October 23, 1951, Willis worked at Dupont for a year, during which time he met and married Doris Crouch, the girl who stole his heart immediately upon introduction by a mutual friend. They moved to Corpus Christi so Willis could finish his BA degree. He then taught in Corpus for nine years while working for his MA at Texas A&I in Kingsville, receiving that degree in 1958.
Willis, Doris and three children moved back to Victoria in 1962 where he taught at Stanly Elementary School for a year, was principal and teacher at Guadalupe for three years then spent eighteen years as principal of Vickers Elementary School.
After retiring in 1984 after 31 years in Texas Public Schools, he was in real estate for three years then served as an Adjunct Professor with the University of Houston for 11 years.
Willis served as director of the Head Start Program for two summers and was co-director, along with the late Job Currie, of the first Adult Literacy Program in Victoria. He served as a scoutmaster, little league coach and was an elder of the churches the family attended. Willis had accepted Christ as his Savior at the age of nine and was baptized in the Guadalupe River near Thomaston.
Willis’ pride and joy were his children, grandchildren and great grandchildren with whom he and Doris spent many wonderful family vacations.
He was preceded in death by his parents; brother, Thomas Elbert Gathright; sister, Alice Hawkes; sister, Sylvia Elsey; and granddaughter, Melody Garrison Gentry.
A Memorial Service will be held Saturday, June 29, 2019, 2 PM at Fellowship Bible Church in Victoria.
The above obituary was written by Willis Roy Gathright's own hand.
Published by the Victoria Advocate, June 28, 2019
Parents were John David and Sallie Mead Davies Gathright. The family moved to the Hewitt farm on the Lower Mission Valley Road when Willis was about six months old and he went to school at Mission Valley for the first and second grade then to Mitchell School for grades three and four, Nursery School for fifth through eighth, then to Patti Welder, graduating in 1942.
Willis entered the Navy on June 25, 1943, and served 19 months in the Pacific, participating in several assault landings before going to Japan for the surrender ceremonies. He returned to Victoria College after discharge in 1946 receiving an AA degree in 1948; spent a year at the University of Houston in Houston then transferred to the University of Corpus Christi. He was recalled to the Navy for the Korean War on September 1st of 1950 and sent to Hawaii where he was assigned to the USS Epperson DDE 719. The ship was ordered to Japan, then Korea, Taiwan and joined task force 77 operating off the northern coast of Korea where they participated in bombing operations in support of American and South Korean forces.
After release on October 23, 1951, Willis worked at Dupont for a year, during which time he met and married Doris Crouch, the girl who stole his heart immediately upon introduction by a mutual friend. They moved to Corpus Christi so Willis could finish his BA degree. He then taught in Corpus for nine years while working for his MA at Texas A&I in Kingsville, receiving that degree in 1958.
Willis, Doris and three children moved back to Victoria in 1962 where he taught at Stanly Elementary School for a year, was principal and teacher at Guadalupe for three years then spent eighteen years as principal of Vickers Elementary School.
After retiring in 1984 after 31 years in Texas Public Schools, he was in real estate for three years then served as an Adjunct Professor with the University of Houston for 11 years.
Willis served as director of the Head Start Program for two summers and was co-director, along with the late Job Currie, of the first Adult Literacy Program in Victoria. He served as a scoutmaster, little league coach and was an elder of the churches the family attended. Willis had accepted Christ as his Savior at the age of nine and was baptized in the Guadalupe River near Thomaston.
Willis’ pride and joy were his children, grandchildren and great grandchildren with whom he and Doris spent many wonderful family vacations.
He was preceded in death by his parents; brother, Thomas Elbert Gathright; sister, Alice Hawkes; sister, Sylvia Elsey; and granddaughter, Melody Garrison Gentry.
A Memorial Service will be held Saturday, June 29, 2019, 2 PM at Fellowship Bible Church in Victoria.
The above obituary was written by Willis Roy Gathright's own hand.
Published by the Victoria Advocate, June 28, 2019
Willis Roy Gathright was born December 3, 1924 on the Stoner ranch which was where the Tanglewood subdivision is now located at the intersection of Sam Houston Dr. and the Houston Highway in Victoria, Texas.
Parents were John David and Sallie Mead Davies Gathright. The family moved to the Hewitt farm on the Lower Mission Valley Road when Willis was about six months old and he went to school at Mission Valley for the first and second grade then to Mitchell School for grades three and four, Nursery School for fifth through eighth, then to Patti Welder, graduating in 1942.
Willis entered the Navy on June 25, 1943, and served 19 months in the Pacific, participating in several assault landings before going to Japan for the surrender ceremonies. He returned to Victoria College after discharge in 1946 receiving an AA degree in 1948; spent a year at the University of Houston in Houston then transferred to the University of Corpus Christi. He was recalled to the Navy for the Korean War on September 1st of 1950 and sent to Hawaii where he was assigned to the USS Epperson DDE 719. The ship was ordered to Japan, then Korea, Taiwan and joined task force 77 operating off the northern coast of Korea where they participated in bombing operations in support of American and South Korean forces.
After release on October 23, 1951, Willis worked at Dupont for a year, during which time he met and married Doris Crouch, the girl who stole his heart immediately upon introduction by a mutual friend. They moved to Corpus Christi so Willis could finish his BA degree. He then taught in Corpus for nine years while working for his MA at Texas A&I in Kingsville, receiving that degree in 1958.
Willis, Doris and three children moved back to Victoria in 1962 where he taught at Stanly Elementary School for a year, was principal and teacher at Guadalupe for three years then spent eighteen years as principal of Vickers Elementary School.
After retiring in 1984 after 31 years in Texas Public Schools, he was in real estate for three years then served as an Adjunct Professor with the University of Houston for 11 years.
Willis served as director of the Head Start Program for two summers and was co-director, along with the late Job Currie, of the first Adult Literacy Program in Victoria. He served as a scoutmaster, little league coach and was an elder of the churches the family attended. Willis had accepted Christ as his Savior at the age of nine and was baptized in the Guadalupe River near Thomaston.
Willis’ pride and joy were his children, grandchildren and great grandchildren with whom he and Doris spent many wonderful family vacations.
He was preceded in death by his parents; brother, Thomas Elbert Gathright; sister, Alice Hawkes; sister, Sylvia Elsey; and granddaughter, Melody Garrison Gentry.
A Memorial Service will be held Saturday, June 29, 2019, 2 PM at Fellowship Bible Church in Victoria.
The above obituary was written by Willis Roy Gathright's own hand.
Published by the Victoria Advocate, June 28, 2019
Parents were John David and Sallie Mead Davies Gathright. The family moved to the Hewitt farm on the Lower Mission Valley Road when Willis was about six months old and he went to school at Mission Valley for the first and second grade then to Mitchell School for grades three and four, Nursery School for fifth through eighth, then to Patti Welder, graduating in 1942.
Willis entered the Navy on June 25, 1943, and served 19 months in the Pacific, participating in several assault landings before going to Japan for the surrender ceremonies. He returned to Victoria College after discharge in 1946 receiving an AA degree in 1948; spent a year at the University of Houston in Houston then transferred to the University of Corpus Christi. He was recalled to the Navy for the Korean War on September 1st of 1950 and sent to Hawaii where he was assigned to the USS Epperson DDE 719. The ship was ordered to Japan, then Korea, Taiwan and joined task force 77 operating off the northern coast of Korea where they participated in bombing operations in support of American and South Korean forces.
After release on October 23, 1951, Willis worked at Dupont for a year, during which time he met and married Doris Crouch, the girl who stole his heart immediately upon introduction by a mutual friend. They moved to Corpus Christi so Willis could finish his BA degree. He then taught in Corpus for nine years while working for his MA at Texas A&I in Kingsville, receiving that degree in 1958.
Willis, Doris and three children moved back to Victoria in 1962 where he taught at Stanly Elementary School for a year, was principal and teacher at Guadalupe for three years then spent eighteen years as principal of Vickers Elementary School.
After retiring in 1984 after 31 years in Texas Public Schools, he was in real estate for three years then served as an Adjunct Professor with the University of Houston for 11 years.
Willis served as director of the Head Start Program for two summers and was co-director, along with the late Job Currie, of the first Adult Literacy Program in Victoria. He served as a scoutmaster, little league coach and was an elder of the churches the family attended. Willis had accepted Christ as his Savior at the age of nine and was baptized in the Guadalupe River near Thomaston.
Willis’ pride and joy were his children, grandchildren and great grandchildren with whom he and Doris spent many wonderful family vacations.
He was preceded in death by his parents; brother, Thomas Elbert Gathright; sister, Alice Hawkes; sister, Sylvia Elsey; and granddaughter, Melody Garrison Gentry.
A Memorial Service will be held Saturday, June 29, 2019, 2 PM at Fellowship Bible Church in Victoria.
The above obituary was written by Willis Roy Gathright's own hand.
Published by the Victoria Advocate, June 28, 2019
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