Julius C. Willis, Sr. was born in Middletown, Ohio on November 23, 1877 to Thomas Henry and Helena Willis. It is believed he had brothers, sisters, or other relatives named Roscoe Konklin, Walker Ernest, Emma Jane, and Hattie Florence. These are names that he fondly gave to some of his own children.

Much of the information here is based on what Julius used to relate to his son Junior. Julius’ father was French Irish and his mother was part French and part native American.

Julius’ father was a carpenter and furniture craftsman. Julius kept a large picture of his father wearing overalls and shouldering a hand saw hanging on the wall of his home in the Philippines.

Sometime in 1905 or 1906, Julius joined the Indiana volunteers to fight in what was then the Spanish-American War. From Indianapolis, he travelled with the Army to Atlanta, Georgia, and then to a “Fort Said” in California from where his regiment took the month-long sea voyage to the Philippines.

The war had ended by the time Julius arrived in Manila Bay with his regiment. He served the remainder of his military term and in 1908 or thereabouts he “mustered” out at the US Army’s Olongapo base in Subic, Zambales.

While in Zambales, Julius engaged in business, operating a bar and restaurant for military personnel off the base. He married Demetria Osorio with whom he had three daughters: Rosalia, Vicenta, and Elena, all of whom are now deceased.

Daughter Rosalia married the son of another US Army retiree, Joseph Thomas Casey, Jr., with whom she had five children: Rafael, Francisco, Joseph Jr., Teresita, and Dorothy. Descendants of the Casey family now live in the US (click here) and the Philippines.

Daughter Vicenta married into the Vida family of Oriental Mindoro where she raised a family that was engaged in the agriculture industry.

Daughter Elena married Mariano Marcelo of Manila with whom she raised a large family currently concentrated in the Greater Manila area.

After the death of Demitry, Julius married a woman named Rosa Talana of Leyte province. They divorced a year after the marriage. Though they had no children, she later bore a daughter to whom she gave the surname Willis.

In 1932, Julius married Soledad Ramos of Sorsogon province with whom he had two sons and a daughter: Julius, Jr. (1933), Thomas Henry (1934), and Hattie Florence (1936). Soledad died from complications while giving birth to Hattie in 1936. All three children now live in the United States with their families.

Julius and Soledad engaged in the auto repair and furniture business in Baclaran, Paranaque (Rizal province) and organized the JC Willis Corporation. They also started out a dealership distributing “Nash” automobiles and operated a gasoline station.

Following Soledad’s untimely death, Julius married Antonina Ventura of La Union province with whom he had two boys and a girl: Roscoe Konklin (1937), Emma Jane (1938), and Walker Earnest (1946). All three likewise live in the United States with their families.

Julius was well-known and an established businessman in the Philippines. He was a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and various other business organizations of the time.

When the Japanese military attacked the US forces in the Philippines in 1940, the US Embassy requested Julius to take his family and “enter” the American civilian concentration camp that was being set up at the University of Santo Tomas in Manila. Julius rejected the idea, fearing hardships for himself and his family in a controlled environment. Instead, he went into hiding at a farm operated by his daughter Rosalia and her husband Joseph Casey in Queson City. At the time, Joseph Casey was chief of police of Quezon City. Julius kept his son Junior with him in Quezon City and sent off his other children to hiding in La Union province with wife Antonina.

There were several “close calls” during the Japanese military’s campaign to “capture” all American civilians who were in

Continued on next column

Services for Julius Sr. at Funenaria Nacional, Avenida Rizal, Manila. Those present included his then-widow Antonina Ventura de Willis, his children Julius Jr., Thomas, Hattie, Emma, Roscoe, and Walker; the Vida family from Mindoro, the Casey family from Quezon City, and the Marcelo family from Manila.

“hiding.” Julius and his family, like many others in their situation, made it through four years of moving about and avoiding detection. Meanwhile, true to Julius’ fears, thousands of American citizens suffered and died from starvation and disease at the University of Santo Tomas concentration camp.

During the US Army’s liberation of the Philippines in 1945, Julius suffered a shrapnel wound to the buttocks. He and his oldest son (11 years old at the time) Junior were mingling and chatting with US Army infantrymen when a Japanese artillery shell exploded nearby.

After the Philippines was completely liberated from Japanese occupation, Julius returned with his family to their home and business in Baclaran, Paranaque, Rizal. Nothing but the concrete framework of the main building remained standing. When Julius and his family left the place at the start of the war, he had all the assets -- furniture, fixtures, machinery and equipment, including the contents of their home locked down and the buildings heavily padlocked. Everything disappeared. Bicycles and a car which he  buried in the backyard wrapped in plastic and canvas, and protected by grease, were all somehow taken away sometime in the early part of the four-year Japanese occupation.

Now in his late 60s, Julius managed to rebuild part of his business, engaging in the sale and distribution of auto parts and rebuilding and selling surplus military vehicles. However, age and poor eyesight caused by cataracts prevented him

Continued on next column

FROM THE LIFE & TIMES OF JULIUS C. WILLIS, SR.

In 1954 after cataract surgery at a Los Angeles VA hospital. He is holding a shrapnel that was removed from his left hip; the shrapnel was from a Japanese artillery shell that exploded a few yards away from where he and son Julius Jr. were chatting with US GI’s during the 1945 liberation of the Philippines.

Julius C. Willis, Sr. and Soledad Ramos with their three children: Hattie Florence (on Soledad’s lap), Julius, Jr. (standing), and Thomas Henry.

from doing more. He went to the Veterans Administration Hospital in Los Angeles, California for cataract surgery in 1953, regaining his eyesight but suffering a stroke while hospitalized. The stroke left him paralyzed in the legs and left arm.

Before returning to the Philippines in 1955, he secured the help of the American Red Cross in searching for his long lost family in the United States. The search resulted in nothing. The only response Julius got was from a Mrs. Crow, the daughter of a former girlfriend in Atlanta, Georgia who wrote these words in a letter to Julius in 1954: “My mother died a few years ago. In her last days, she talked about her fond memories of a Julius Willis she once knew. . .”

Julius returned to his family in the Philippines with a broken heart. He talked about the last letter he received from his father in 1909 in which his dad begged him to return to the Middletown to “help out in the business.” However, Julius decided at that time that the Philippines was his home. He told his father so and never heard from the family again.

Not being able to move around enough due to his paralysis, Julius’ strong body and determined will eventually gave in and he became bedridden in 1957 until he passed away in December 2, 1962.

It is hoped that this narrative and the pictures on this and other pages will help connect with some of Julius’ relations in the US.

End of Story

FROM THE LIFE & TIMES OF JULIUS C. WILLIS, SR.

Julius Sr. and his young children at their war damaged home in 1945. In front are (from left) Emma Jane and Roscoe Konklin (children with wife Antonina Ventura), and Thomas Henry. Back, from left: Hattie Florence, Julius Jr., and Julius Sr.

Collage of daughters Rosalia, Elena, Vicenta and son Walker Ernest who are deceased.

At a memorial for Soledad Ramos who died in 1937 from complications after giving birth to Hattie Florence.

The grave of Julius Sr. and his two former wives, Soledad Ramos and Demitria Osorio.