Jack Willis died at age 98 on the morning of Feb. 16 at his home in Malibu. He came to California from a port town west of Glasgow to raise a family. He wanted to share the ocean and coast with his wife, Jenny, so the couple settled in Malibu.
In Scotland during World War II, Willis mastered the mechanics of a nascent technology called radar and trained his native country’s operators on how to use it. The backdrop of catastrophic air raids made the work pressing. His technical acumen served him well upon arriving stateside, as he launched a semiconductor business in the ‘60s, which was one of the first of its kind. He then guided generations of students through the circuitry of electrical engineering as a professor and professor emeritus at UCLA.
“During his life, Jack filled enough canvases with castles, lochs and ships to make art galleries of the homes of his family, beguiled a troop of grandchildren and great grandchildren with his Scottish brogue and never once let his smile fade or raised his voice (except if his cherished Bruins were losing at Pauley),” a loved one said. “He had an effortless intellect, he was a respected father without severity, a window for his grandkids into an old world of kindness without expectation, and an anchor of prosperity, modesty and humanity for an ever-flourishing family that owe him so much and will miss him immensely.”
Willis’ children Janette, John and George were with him when he passed. Willis’ life will be memorialized at a family gathering in his native homeland of Scotland. He will be laid to rest on a bluff above the River Clyde in Port Glasgow where he will be at his wife’s side.