Birth date: Sep 2, 1946 Death date: Sep 27, 2024
Willard Wylie Jordan was born on September 2, 1946 and passed on September 27, 2024. A memorial service for Mr. Jordan will be held at the Chapel of Rader Funeral Home of Longview at 10 am on Saturday, October 12 officiated by "Th Read Obituary
I am terribly sorry to hear of the passing of Willard Jordan. He and I shared some great experiences since high school. I went to Spring Hill and Willard went to Harleton and we played sports against each other our high school years. We both went to Kilgore and then on to Lamar Tech and graduated in the Electrical Engineering program. He and Glenneth were great friends and we shared some good times together while in college. I can't remember a more congenial guy than Willard...fun to be around and joke with and you could always depend on him to follow through with what he said. Although we haven't seen each other since our days at Lamar I have thought of him and Glenneth from time to time over the years and would have loved to have gotten together for a good visit, our schedules permitting...unfortunatey that didn't happen. That being said I will always have fond memories of the times
we did share. He was a great guy and I offer my condolences to Glenneth and the family and know that Willard will rest in peace.
I worked with Willard for about 40 years. I was impressed at how he could work for all of us civil engineers in east Texas, who often don't particularly care for each other, yet he was able to be friends and earn the trust of us all. I have two Willard memories I would like to share.
He took me on a fishing trip to Venice, LA once to fish for Redfish and trout in the Mississippi delta. We caught so many fish I got tired of catching fish. That's never happened to me before. The guide was Joe "Something", I can't recall his last name. But he and Willard talked about that movie with Will Farrell where he was a race car driver named Ricky Bobby. I somehow got the nickname Gary Bobby on that trip and they had lots of fun making fun of me, but I didn't care. Willard was the type of guy who could make fun of you without hurting your feelings or making you mad.
The other memory was on a hunting trip with some big shot with Dezurik Valves. It might have been quail hunting. But after supper we played a poker game called "Indian". You picked one card, didn't look at it, and held it against your forehead for the other players to see. Then you would each bet on that hand based on what each of the other players cards were. We laughed so hard that night I'll never forget it. I'm laughing now as I type this. Before bed that night, we talked about a book he was reading on living the Christian life, and how hard that was. So I know he is a Believer and that he is in Heaven now with his Lord and Savior.
He was a GOOD GOOD friend, and I will miss him.
