Dr. L.W. “Bo” Willis, Jr., 87, of Bainbridge, passed away Wednesday, December 24, 2014 at Memorial Hospital.
The graveside funeral service was held at 2 p.m. on Friday, December 26, 2014 at Oak City Cemetery with Dr. Gerald A. Little officiating. The family received friends at the cemetery immediately following the service. Online visitors may sign the guest register at www.iveyfuneral.com.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to First Presbyterian Church, 200 E. Shotwell Street, Bainbridge, GA 39819 or to the Memorial Hospital Foundation, 1500 E. Shotwell Street, Bainbridge, GA 39819.
Dr. Bo was born July 31, 1927 in Bainbridge, Ga., the son of Dr. Leonard W. Willis and Mary Eugenia Woodbery Willis. He graduated from Bainbridge High School in 1944 and served in the U. S. Navy during World War II. He was a graduate of Tulane University, the University of Georgia, and Medical College of Georgia. He served his internship at Charity Hospital in New Orleans and joined his father in family practice in Bainbridge in 1957. He closed his family practice in 1987 and became the staff physician for Bainbridge State Hospital until 2000. He also served as the Bainbridge High School physician, the Decatur County physician, and served on the Decatur County Board of Health.
Survivors include his wife, Sharon Smith Willis of Bainbridge, GA; his son, L. W. “Bo” Willis, III of Atlanta; his daughters, Deborah Willis Holt and her husband, Mike, of Alpharetta, Ga. Olivia Willis Warren and her husband, Jim, of Bainbridge,  and Gena Willis Simpson and her husband, Mike, of Navarre, Fla.; his stepdaughter, Elizabeth Shawn Steadham of Tallahassee; his grandchildren, Larkin Willis, Reynolds Willis, Ashley Holt Sears, Michael Holt, Jr., Mary Olivia Holt Jones, Frankie Warren, Whitley Simpson, and Meg Simpson; and his great-granddaughter, Sally Ann Sears.
He was preceded in death by his first wife, Frankie Reynolds Willis; and his sister, Mary Eugenia Willis Rollins.
Ivey Funeral Home was in charge.