Obituaries

John T. 'Jack' WillisAir Force Major

John T. "Jack" Willis, 87, an Air Force major who retired in 1963 and did engineering work for Mitre Corp., died of lung cancer June 18 at his home in Madison, Wis. He moved to Madison from Bethesda last year.

Maj. Willis was a Tuskegee airman stationed in the United States during World War II and was a meteorologist and radar specialist during his later military career.

He settled in the Washington area after his military retirement and spent a decade at Mitre. In the mid-1970s, he was on the staff of a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration advisory committee.

He later held a variety of jobs, including heading a computer training school in Montserrat, in the British West Indies.

John Thomas Willis was a native of Riverton, N.J., and a graduate of a teachers college in Trenton, N.J.

While in the Air Force, he received a master's degree in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a certificate in meteorology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

His marriage to Annie Smith Willis ended in divorce. A daughter from that marriage, Joanne Range, died in 1972.

Survivors include his wife of 38 years, Irma Thexton Willis of Madison; five children from his first marriage, Louise Amissah of Bowie, Edward Willis of Arlington and Eleanor Willis, Roberta Sims and Jacquelyne Willis, all of Washington; four stepchildren, Arthur Thexton of Madison, Liz Morton of Garden Grove, Calif., Matthew Thexton of Arlington and Bridget Iulo of Manhattan, N.Y.; a brother; nine grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.

-- Adam Bernstein

Edith F. WickertChurch Member, Volunteer

Edith F. Wickert, 82, who was a longtime church member, volunteer and community leader in Northern Virginia, died June 17 of cancer at her home in Alexandria.