William Bliss Travis, Jr. |
| Posted 2018-05-05 by Judy Wight Branson |
| The Prescott Courier, Prescott, Arizona Sunday, April 29, 2018, page 6a William Bliss Travis Jr., 95, born July 19, 1922, in Prescott, Arizona, died April 24, 2018, in Prescott, Arizona. Celebration of Life will be held at 11 a.m. Friday, May 25, 2018, at Ruffner-Wakelin Funeral Home, 303 S. Cortez St., Prescott, Arizona. Arrangements entrusted to Ruffner-Wakelin Funeral Homes and Crematory. Sign the online guestbook at www.ruffnerwakelin.com. ---------------------------- The Daily Courier, Prescott, Arizona Sunday, May 20, 2018, page 6a William (Bill) Bliss Travis, Jr., 95, was born during a thunderstorm on July 19, 1922, in Prescott, Arizona, to Bliss and Dorothy Travis. He passed away at home surrounded by family in Prescott, Arizona, on April 24, 2018. Bill was a second-generation Prescottonian and Prescott was his home for his entire life. Bill graduated from Prescott High School in 1940. He participated in track and won several awards, including holding the Northern Arizona records for high hurdles and high jump for several years. In 1942, Bill joined the U.S. Navy’s V-5 Civilian Pilot Training Program and received his initial flight training at the Navy flight school established in Prescott. He received his Naval Aviator Certification in February 1944. Bill became a torpedo bomber pilot, flying TBF’s and TBM’s. He liked to tell the story about flying a torpedo bomber under the Golden Gate Bridge and Oakland Bridge. Bill survived the bombing of the carrier USS Franklin (“Big Ben”) when it was bombed on March 19, 1945. In 2009, Bill was selected to go with the first group from Prescott to go on an Honor Flight to Washington, D.C., a trip he thoroughly enjoyed. After the war, Bill returned to Prescott and married the love of his life, Oma Johnson. Bill went to work at the U.S. Post Office in Prescott as a mail carrier, window clerk, and eventually, Superintendent of Mails. He retired from the Post Office in 1977 and began his dream job. From 1977 until 2011 Bill drove/ferried vehicles for local car dealerships. He and Oma traveled throughout the United States picking up and/or delivering vehicles. He loved to drive and logged more than one million miles. COPD forced him to retire from his dream job in 2011. Bill and Oma raised five children, teaching them to be independent thinkers and to be anything they wanted to be. He made sure there were regular family outings of picnics, hikes and traveling to the National Parks and on camping trips. Bill made sure all his children had the opportunity for a college education. Family was always the most important thing in his life. Bill was predeceased by his beloved wife, Oma; sisters, Margorie, Nancy, Barbara, Dorothy and Sharon; and brother, George. He is survived by children, Kathryn (Ken) Cook, Janet, William (Valerie), Betty (Glen) Dickens, and Robert (Diane); grandson, James (Kirsten); grand-daughters, Connie, Kira and Jennifer (Matt); sister, Mary Mellin; brother, Warren; and numerous nephews and nieces. The family would like to thank Maggie’s Hospice and Synergy HomeCare for their services. Celebration of Life will be held at 11 a.m., Friday, May 25, 2018, at Ruffner-Wakelin Funeral Home, 303 S. Cortez St., Prescott, Arizona. A Celebration of Life Reception/Send-off will be held at 2 p.m. Friday, May 25, 2018, at Thumb Butte Picnic Area at the Ramada, Thumb Butte Road, Prescott, Arizona. Interment will be at the Prescott VA Cemetery at 11 a.m., on July 16, 2018. The family requests in lieu of flowers, memorials to Bill Travis may be made to Honor Flight Northern AZ, P.O. Box 12258, Prescott, AZ 86304 and to write on the checks lower left-hand corner, “This donation is in memory of William Travis, Jr.” Arrangements entrusted to Ruffner-Wakelin Funeral Homes and Crematory. Sign the online guestbook at www.ruffnerwakelin.com. Information provided by survivors. |
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