Mitchell J. “Mitch” Willis, 63, passed away Friday, September 5, 2014 at his residence.

The family will received friends from 5 to 7:00 p.m. on Monday, September 8, 2014 at Ivey Funeral Home. Online visitors may sign the guest register at

www.iveyfuneral.com. Memorial donations may be made to Hospice of Southwest Georgia. 117 Donalson Street, Bainbridge, GA 39817 or to Dudley United Methodist Church, 1402 Second Street, Dudley, GA 31022.

The funeral service will be held at 2 p.m. on Thursday, September 11, 2014 at Townsend Brothers Funeral Home Chapel in Dublin, Georgia, with Rev. Ed Ellington, Keith Brooks, and Rev. Freddie Smith officiating. Interment will follow at Dublin Memorial Gardens. The family will receive friends at Townsend Brothers Funeral Home Chapel from 12 noon until 2 p.m. prior to the service.

Mitch was born Oct. 27, 1950 in Miami, Fla., the son of George Otto Willis and Cecilia McDermott Willis. He was a graduate of Hialeah High School, Class of 1968, and the University of West Virginia. A chemical engineer, he was a manufacturing technology manager for BASF. Mr. Willis was a lifelong Methodist. He was a past Chairman of the Engineering Research Center of the National Science Foundation for the University of Florida.

Mitch’s family appreciates very much the kind care of Hospice of Southwest Georgia, especially Tammy Fletcher, Kim Bowles, and Sonya Sheffield.

Survivors include his wife, Celeste Larsen Willis of Bainbridge; his children, Angie Willis Murrell and her husband, Matt, of Augusta, Ga., Robin E. Willis of Nashville, Tenn., and Peter Larsen of Dudley, Ga.; his grandchildren, Hayden Willis and Cade Willis; his cousins, Virginia Hardman of Cambridge, Mass. and Diane McDermott and her husband, Jim, of Cambridge; and his sister-in-law, Donna Lawson of Pooler, Ga.

Ivey Funeral Home is in charge of local arrangements.