Obituaries » Joseph E. Willis
Joseph E. Willis
August 20, 1942 - January 24, 2021
Funeral Home Memorial Services of Iowa
Joseph E. Willis of Des Moines, IA passed away peacefully at the age of 78.
He is preceded in death by Harold Jackson (Father)/Linford Willis (Dad), Temple Willis (Mama), Alphonzo Willis (Big Brother), Lois Vincent (Big Sister), Mickey Willis (Big Brother) and David Willis (Little Brother).
Joe is survived by Betty Willis (wife), and the proud father of Jo Anna Willis (Daughter), Steven Willis (son), Jo Ann Sims (Daughter), Briannetta Willis-Long (Daughter), Lindsay Wilson (Daughter), Lora Herweyer (Daughter) and Lacey Williams (Daughter). He is also survived by Donald Smith (oldest of 9), Ruth Black (younger sister), Gloria Ganaway (younger sister) and Garole Barnes (youngest of 9). He is a proud uncle to many nieces & nephews, grandfather, and great-grandfather.
Our dad, Mr. clean-shaven, well spoken, sharp dressing, accomplished musician and sketch artist was a man of many talents who had a vision for success at a very early age. He did have talents besides talking to anyone and everyone that would listen due to his gift of gab. He used his voice to push for equality and basic human rights when our nation was extremely divided and MLK Jr. was assassinated. He wrote two songs to honor him 3 days later called, “Once There was a Young Man” and “Free at Last” even though it took him 23 years to release the music.
Dad, at just age 10 was winning yo-yo competitions and drawing his first sketch of Thomas Jefferson which won him an art contest at Nash Elementary School. This is when his raw talents went on full display and dad said, “he was hooked on art.” Joe sold his first piece of artwork at age 14 to one of his high school teachers and started producing sketches for clothing advertisements by age 16. Next, Joe secretly took up boxing as a teenager and was a pretty good amateur boxer. He dreamed of becoming a professional athlete but when his mother discovered someone had put their fist in his eye, his vision of boxing was pretty much a “done deal”, he’d say, so he pursued music and drawing even more than before. He made dozens of charcoals on canvas sketches including Elvis Presley, Shaun Cassidy, Darth Vader, Princess Leia, Barbra Streisand, and John F. Kennedy. While President Kennedy was in office, he sent his sketch to the President and received a thank you letter in return.
In the early 1960’s dad was the lead vocalist and organist for the Des Moines musical group “The Extensions” that made rounds with artists including Aretha Franklin, Sam Cooke, and Smokey Robinson. The Extensions recorded many songs that made the top 40 charts.
Our father lived his life pursuing the American dream until he was 59 and decided to walk away from the music and art world to focus on finishing his management career and being with his family. Dad was a hard-working, loving man who retired just 3 years ago from Center Village in Minnesota at age 75! He worked 60 years doing what he loved.
Dad will be fondly remembered by family and friends as a loving father, distinguished artist, religious buff, humorist, champion of cleanliness, proud patriot, and US Army Veteran. God’s sunrise 8/20/1942 and sunset 1/24/2021 at age 78.