Willard's parents were Willard Marvin Matthews, 1911-1988, and Violet Imogene Lewis, 1922 - 2008. He had 2 sisters, Marilyn Jean Matthews, 1949-2012, and Debbie Short.
In the 1940 federal census, Willard, approximately 6 months old, was living with his parents in Iron MO. His father was working as a laborer on a road project - possibly the WPA?
Willard married Elizabeth Rose Battreal in December of 1976 and they had sons, Ron and Joshua, and two daughters, Rebecca and Heather.
I'm a Founder of AncientFaces and support the community answering questions & helping members make connections to the past (thus my official title of Founder & Content and Community Support ). For me, it's been a labor of love for over 20 years. I truly believe with all of my heart that everyone should be remembered for generations to come.
I am 2nd generation San Jose and have seen a lot of changes in the area while growing up. We used to be known as the "Valley of Heart's Delight" (because the Valley was covered with orchards and there were many canneries to process the food grown here, which shipped all over the US) - now we have adopted the nickname "Capital of Silicon Valley" and Apple, Ebay, Adobe, Netflix, Facebook, and many more tech companies are within a few miles of my current home in San Jose (including AncientFaces). From a small town of 25,000, we have grown to 1 million plus. And when you add in all of the communities surrounding us (for instance, Saratoga, where I attended high school, living a block from our previous Mayor), we are truly one of the big cities in the US. I am so very proud of my hometown. For more information see Kathy - Founder & Content and Community Director My family began AncientFaces because we believe that unique photos and stories that show who people are/were should be shared with the world.