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Created page with "{{Infobox Officeholder | name = Horace Luther "H. L." Willis | caption = | office = Mayor of Pineville, Louisiana | term_start=August 1952 | t..."
{{Infobox Officeholder
| name = Horace Luther "H. L." Willis
| caption =
| office = [[Mayor]] of [[Pineville, Louisiana|Pineville]], [[Louisiana]]
| term_start=August 1952
| term_end= June 1954
| preceded=[[Willie Kees]]
| succeeded=S. J. Sasser
| birth_place=Winn Parish, [[Louisiana]], USA
| birth_date=March 5, 1892
| death_place=Pineville, Rapides Parish
| death_date =October 1979 (aged 87)
| resting_place=Greenwood Memorial Park in Pineville
| residence=Pineville, Louisiana
| party=[[Democratic Party|Democrat]]
| religion=[[Southern Baptist]]
| occupation=Building and grounds superintendent at Louisiana College
| alma_mater=Louisiana College
| spouse=Jane Humble Willis
| children =No children
| parents=Julius Luther and Mary Theodosia Shumaker Willis
| branch=[[United States Army]]
| battles=[[World War I]]
| rank=Second lieutenant in Louisiana National Guard
| footnotes =
}}
'''Horace Luther Willis''', known as '''H. L. Willis'' (March 5, 1892 – June 12, 1979),<ref name=findagrave>{{cite web|url=|title=|publisher=finagrave.com|accessdate=July 24, 2015}}</ref> was the long-term building superintendent at [[Southern Baptist]]-affiliated Louisiana College who served from 1952 to 1954 as the [[mayor]] of [[Pineville, Louisiana|Pineville]], [[Louisiana]].
==Background==
Willis was born in the Winn Parish community of Newport to a Southern Baptist couple, [[farmer]] Julius Luther Willis (1867-1934) and the former Mary Theodosia Shumaker (1866-1936). He had six siblings, all of whom he outlived. Two died before the age of three. Julius Willis died at the age of sixty-seven from injuries sustained when he was struck by a car on the Dodson Road in Winnfield while he was attempting to retrieve a wandering cow.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=54460232|title=Julius Luther Nugent|publisher=''Winn Parish Enterprise''|date=April 26, 1934|location=Winnfield, Louisiana|accessdate=July 25, 2015}}</ref> Mary Willis died of an illness two years after her husband. The state legislator and journalist Harley Bozeman of Winnfield, a confidante of [[Huey Long]], was a [[pallbearer]] at her funeral. Julius and Mary Willis are interred at Winnfield Cemetery.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=54460227|title=Mary Theodosia Shumaker Willis|publisher=''Winn Parish Enterprise''|date=November 18, 1936|accessdate=July 25, 2015}}</ref>
==Career==
Willis graduated in 1919 with a [[Bachelor of Arts]] degree from Louisiana College and was the first winner of the intercollegiate medal for track and field awarded in [[Natchitoches, Louisiana|Natchitoches]]. For decades he was one of the most recognized faces on the LC campus through his position for fifty years as the superintendent of grounds and buildings.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OjpHAQAAMAAJ&pg=RA2-PA78&lpg=RA2-PA78&dq=Horace+Luther+Willis&source=bl&ots=eETbV8oV_Z&sig=IvL2AQT-ByzPelM3JdWerFCTgL4&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CCUQ6AEwAWoVChMI9vzY3br2xgIVgooNCh3Pww_R#v=onepage&q=Horace%20Luther%20Willis&f=false|title=Catalog of Louisiana College Session ... with Announcements for the Session ...|page=78|publisher=[[Louisiana College]]|accessdate=July 25, 2015}}</ref><ref name=bio>{{cite web|url=http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=Willis&GSfn=H&GSbyrel=all&GSdyrel=all&GSst=20&GScnty=1148&GScntry=4&GSob=n&GRid=54473746&df=all&|title=Horace Luther Willis|publisher=''The Alexandria Daily Town Talk'' on findagrave.com|accessdate=July 25, 2015}}</ref> In the summer of 1932, the Louisiana College power plant was struck by a bolt of lightning and a student assistant engineer was injured. The problem was not resolve until January 1933.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/2715913/|title=Switch at Louisiana College is repaired|publisher=''Ruston Daily Leader''|date=January 26, 1933|accessdate=July 25, 2015}]</ref>
A veteran of the [[United States Army]], Willis served overseas during [[World War I]], with the 7t5h Railroad Artillery as chief mechanic before his discharge in 1919. In 1926, he was commissioned in the [[Louisiana National Guard]] as a second lieutenant; in 1943, he was placed on inactive reserve with the rank of [[major]]. Willis was highly involved in civic activities. A [[Democratic Party|Democrat]], he served on the Pineville City Council from 1946 to 1952.<ref name=bioi/> When [[Wille Kees|Willie E. Kees, Jr.]], resigned as mayor, the council appointed Willis to complete the term which expired on June 30, 1954.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://archive.thetowntalk.com/article/20120826/OPINION/208260321/From-Past|title=From the Past|date=August 26, 1952|publisher=''The Alexandria Daily Town Talk''|accessdate=July 24, 2015}}</ref>
He was a member and president of the Red River Atchafalaya and Bayou Bouef Levee Board. For a decade, he was the Pineville civil defense director.<ref name=bio/>
Willis was a charter member of the First Baptist Church of Pineville, a congregation particularly close to Louisiana College. He was a member of the Kiwanis International, Lions International, the Order of the Eastern Star, and a high-ranking official in the Masonic lodge and the Shriners. Active in the [[American Legion]], he was also a charter member of the group Veterans of World War I of the U.S.A.
Willis was married to the former Jane Humble (1893-1990).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=Willis&GSfn=Jane&GSbyrel=all&GSdyrel=all&GSst=20&GScnty=1148&GScntry=4&GSob=n&GRid=166139397&df=all&
|title=Jane Humble Willis|publisher=Findagrave.com|accessdate=September 16, 2017}}</ref> Willis died at the age of eighty-seven at the Alexandria Veterans Administration Medical Center, located in Pineville. He and his wife are interred at Greenwood Memorial Park in Pineville.<ref name=bio/>
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Willis, H. L.}}
[[Category:Louisiana People]]
[[Category:Politicians]]
[[Category:Mayors]]
[[Category:Democrats]]
[[Category:Baptists]]
[[Category:United States Army]]
[[Category:World War I]]
| name = Horace Luther "H. L." Willis
| caption =
| office = [[Mayor]] of [[Pineville, Louisiana|Pineville]], [[Louisiana]]
| term_start=August 1952
| term_end= June 1954
| preceded=[[Willie Kees]]
| succeeded=S. J. Sasser
| birth_place=Winn Parish, [[Louisiana]], USA
| birth_date=March 5, 1892
| death_place=Pineville, Rapides Parish
| death_date =October 1979 (aged 87)
| resting_place=Greenwood Memorial Park in Pineville
| residence=Pineville, Louisiana
| party=[[Democratic Party|Democrat]]
| religion=[[Southern Baptist]]
| occupation=Building and grounds superintendent at Louisiana College
| alma_mater=Louisiana College
| spouse=Jane Humble Willis
| children =No children
| parents=Julius Luther and Mary Theodosia Shumaker Willis
| branch=[[United States Army]]
| battles=[[World War I]]
| rank=Second lieutenant in Louisiana National Guard
| footnotes =
}}
'''Horace Luther Willis''', known as '''H. L. Willis'' (March 5, 1892 – June 12, 1979),<ref name=findagrave>{{cite web|url=|title=|publisher=finagrave.com|accessdate=July 24, 2015}}</ref> was the long-term building superintendent at [[Southern Baptist]]-affiliated Louisiana College who served from 1952 to 1954 as the [[mayor]] of [[Pineville, Louisiana|Pineville]], [[Louisiana]].
==Background==
Willis was born in the Winn Parish community of Newport to a Southern Baptist couple, [[farmer]] Julius Luther Willis (1867-1934) and the former Mary Theodosia Shumaker (1866-1936). He had six siblings, all of whom he outlived. Two died before the age of three. Julius Willis died at the age of sixty-seven from injuries sustained when he was struck by a car on the Dodson Road in Winnfield while he was attempting to retrieve a wandering cow.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=54460232|title=Julius Luther Nugent|publisher=''Winn Parish Enterprise''|date=April 26, 1934|location=Winnfield, Louisiana|accessdate=July 25, 2015}}</ref> Mary Willis died of an illness two years after her husband. The state legislator and journalist Harley Bozeman of Winnfield, a confidante of [[Huey Long]], was a [[pallbearer]] at her funeral. Julius and Mary Willis are interred at Winnfield Cemetery.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=54460227|title=Mary Theodosia Shumaker Willis|publisher=''Winn Parish Enterprise''|date=November 18, 1936|accessdate=July 25, 2015}}</ref>
==Career==
Willis graduated in 1919 with a [[Bachelor of Arts]] degree from Louisiana College and was the first winner of the intercollegiate medal for track and field awarded in [[Natchitoches, Louisiana|Natchitoches]]. For decades he was one of the most recognized faces on the LC campus through his position for fifty years as the superintendent of grounds and buildings.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OjpHAQAAMAAJ&pg=RA2-PA78&lpg=RA2-PA78&dq=Horace+Luther+Willis&source=bl&ots=eETbV8oV_Z&sig=IvL2AQT-ByzPelM3JdWerFCTgL4&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CCUQ6AEwAWoVChMI9vzY3br2xgIVgooNCh3Pww_R#v=onepage&q=Horace%20Luther%20Willis&f=false|title=Catalog of Louisiana College Session ... with Announcements for the Session ...|page=78|publisher=[[Louisiana College]]|accessdate=July 25, 2015}}</ref><ref name=bio>{{cite web|url=http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=Willis&GSfn=H&GSbyrel=all&GSdyrel=all&GSst=20&GScnty=1148&GScntry=4&GSob=n&GRid=54473746&df=all&|title=Horace Luther Willis|publisher=''The Alexandria Daily Town Talk'' on findagrave.com|accessdate=July 25, 2015}}</ref> In the summer of 1932, the Louisiana College power plant was struck by a bolt of lightning and a student assistant engineer was injured. The problem was not resolve until January 1933.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/2715913/|title=Switch at Louisiana College is repaired|publisher=''Ruston Daily Leader''|date=January 26, 1933|accessdate=July 25, 2015}]</ref>
A veteran of the [[United States Army]], Willis served overseas during [[World War I]], with the 7t5h Railroad Artillery as chief mechanic before his discharge in 1919. In 1926, he was commissioned in the [[Louisiana National Guard]] as a second lieutenant; in 1943, he was placed on inactive reserve with the rank of [[major]]. Willis was highly involved in civic activities. A [[Democratic Party|Democrat]], he served on the Pineville City Council from 1946 to 1952.<ref name=bioi/> When [[Wille Kees|Willie E. Kees, Jr.]], resigned as mayor, the council appointed Willis to complete the term which expired on June 30, 1954.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://archive.thetowntalk.com/article/20120826/OPINION/208260321/From-Past|title=From the Past|date=August 26, 1952|publisher=''The Alexandria Daily Town Talk''|accessdate=July 24, 2015}}</ref>
He was a member and president of the Red River Atchafalaya and Bayou Bouef Levee Board. For a decade, he was the Pineville civil defense director.<ref name=bio/>
Willis was a charter member of the First Baptist Church of Pineville, a congregation particularly close to Louisiana College. He was a member of the Kiwanis International, Lions International, the Order of the Eastern Star, and a high-ranking official in the Masonic lodge and the Shriners. Active in the [[American Legion]], he was also a charter member of the group Veterans of World War I of the U.S.A.
Willis was married to the former Jane Humble (1893-1990).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=Willis&GSfn=Jane&GSbyrel=all&GSdyrel=all&GSst=20&GScnty=1148&GScntry=4&GSob=n&GRid=166139397&df=all&
|title=Jane Humble Willis|publisher=Findagrave.com|accessdate=September 16, 2017}}</ref> Willis died at the age of eighty-seven at the Alexandria Veterans Administration Medical Center, located in Pineville. He and his wife are interred at Greenwood Memorial Park in Pineville.<ref name=bio/>
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Willis, H. L.}}
[[Category:Louisiana People]]
[[Category:Politicians]]
[[Category:Mayors]]
[[Category:Democrats]]
[[Category:Baptists]]
[[Category:United States Army]]
[[Category:World War I]]