William "Bill" Willis' Obituary
William “Bill” L. Willis, 64, passed away on August 1, 2023. He was born in Jefferson City, Missouri on March 23rd, 1959. Bill's passion for cooking was started at an early age while he worked as a young man at his family’s restaurants in Missouri. In 1977, Bill joined the United States Marine Corps where he went on to learn the fine details of telecommunications. After leaving the military, with his wife Zelda and children, adversity hit in 1986 when their house caught fire and they lost everything. At that point, Bill relocated his family to Palm Coast, Florida where he would begin his local legacy.
Bill was instrumental in helping the City of Palm Coast develop its fiber network and owned one of the first internet and VOIP providers in the area: Easy Access which eventually became Palm Coast Internet. In addition to his telecommunications business, Bill could not ever forget his passion and love of cooking, so he started a catering company: Chef Bill’sCatering. Bill loved what he did for a living, and ran both businesses successfully for years, never feeling like he was working a day in his life. Bill was also a very passionate Christian, devoting as much time and energy that was ever needed for multiple churches in the area, but most important to Bill was his family. Sadly, he was predeceased by his father Bobby Gene Willis, his mother Stella Sue Leija and stepfather Benjamin Leija, as well as his brothers W. Keith Willis and Bryan Willis.
Bill is survived by his wife of 47 years, Zelda, His sister Bobbie Sue Gullings (Meryl). His sons, Dale (Josephine) and William “Bill, Jr.”(Esined). His daughters, Crystal (Michael) and Angela. One thing is for certain- Bill loved his large family. In addition to his children, he was blessed with 11 Grandchildren and 8 Great-Grandchildren
Services will be held at First Baptist Church of Palm Coast (6050 Palm Coast Parkway NW, Palm Coast FL 32137) on August 22, 2023 at 5:30 in the evening. A Celebration of Life will be held at Channelside located at 1 Yacht Club Drive, Palm Coast FL 32137.
In lieu of flowers, the family would like donations made to Heritage Funeral and Cremation Service, 4601 E. Moody Blvd, G7, Bunnell, FL 32110, First Baptist Church of Palm Coast, 6050 Palm Coast Parkway NW, Palm Coast FL 32137 and Channelside, 1 Yacht Club Drive, Palm Coast FL 32137, for their outstanding generosity.
Heritage Funeral and Cremation Service is assisting the family.
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