Homer Eugene Wills, Sr. 1902 to 1944 - Generation 6
Helen (Bumblis) & Homer Eugene Wills with children Dorothy & Homer Jr., 1927
The
photos on this page and text, with childhood memories, were donated
by Dorothy Lee (Wills) Fay, oldest child of Homer Wills, Sr.
My father, Homer Eugene Wills was born April
30, 1901 in Bedford Co., VA. He was the 8th of 9 children born to Charles Allen
and Nannie Lee (Witt) Wills . Just
a young lad when his mother died, he was raised by his father and step-mother,
Viola (McGuire) Wills. When he reached adulthood, he migrated to Hopewell, Va.
where there were numerous industrial plants to find employment.
While living in Hopewell, he met Helen
Mathilda Bumblis, an employee of the Tubize Silk Company where they both worked
making artificial silk. Father
was 19 and mother, 18, when they were married Nov.26, 1921, in
Petersburg, Prince George Co., Va. They lived in the part of Hopewell known as
Dupont City, near the James and Appomattox River.
The depression was on and my mother's parents having come from Eastern Europe, had no skills except farming. Their entire family arrived in Virginia on Dec.31, 1919 from Collingwood, a section of Cleveland, Ohio. They eventually settled in Hopewell, Va. Grandparents Bumblis moved back to Cleveland in 1925 when they realized the farm was not a success. Grampa Bumblis worked with the fleet in the James River until he returned to Cleveland, and then sent for the family.
Father and Mother followed my grandparents to Cleveland when I was 8 months old. My brother, Homer, Jr. was born in Cleveland, two years after I was born in Hopewell. During the week we lived with my grandparents and our weekends were spent with our parents in our home. Both of our parents worked, one days and the other nights.
When
we were at our home, Father would sit me on his lap, most evenings and tell me
stories. I wish I could remember what they were. I do remember Father would play
the Victrola, stand me on a chair beside it and teach me to sing along with the
record. When The Red Red Robin Comes Bob
Bob Bobbin Along was the one
father had me sing for company many times. We sat in front of the stove's
broiler on our kitchen stove, which had high legs, and roasted chestnuts
When we went to my grandparents home, my father and grown uncles got along very well. Uncle Bill Bumblis was building a plane in the barn garage out back. My brother, Uncle Bud (who was my age) and I would play in my family's car, a Ford. On our way home on weekends, we would think we were hiding Bud under a blanket in the back, then wait until what we thought was miles away to discover Bud. My father got a great kick out of our play, having such a great sense of humor. Uncle Bud and I were raised like twins, I was a month older than he was. And all our lives Bud, Homer jr., and I were very close until the war, and Bud went off to the South Pacific and Homer went off to the Navy.
When
I was about 4, in 1928, and my brother was about 2, my father took us and my mother to Bedford County, Virginia.
We drove in our Ford. It was
a beautiful drive through the mountains. We
stayed with my Grandfather Charles Allen Wills in a cabin.
I remember Grandfather leaving each morning with a roll of fine strips of
wood over his shoulder. My Mother told me he was going off to work.
He mended cane chairs. There
were several children, all my cousins. But,
I do not remember them. My mother
told me that the grandmother was his second wife.
I was 6 and Homer, Jr., 4, when riding to
our grandparents house in the back of the streetcar, when mother told us,
"we wouldn't be living with Daddy anymore, we were going to live with
Grandma and Grandpa." I remember being happy that I could live with all my
aunts and uncles. I am sure I really didn't know what it meant.
After that time, during the course of my
life, I saw my father, maybe 4 times. My mother said he lived in Washington,
D.C.
Further searching for information on my
father verified that he had lost a leg in a train accident. He made his home in
Washington, D.C., not too far from Hopewell, Va. There he visited his brother,
Henry, sister, Lottie , and their families as often as work permitted.
Father was fatally injured while being
mugged in Washington, D.C. on Sept. 1, 1944. He is buried in the George
Washington Memorial Cemetery.
These memories are from Dorothy Lee Norma Wills Fay , May 1, 2000
My Bumblis Uncles, back row. Homer Wills Sr., right top. Grandpa Bumblis with Homer Jr., and Dorothy Lee in his arms.
Descendants of Homer Eugene Wills, Sr.
1 Homer Eugene Wills, Sr. Born: April 30, 1902 in Bedford, Va. Died: September 01, 1944 in Washington, DC Age at death: 42
. +Helen Bumblis Born: December 22, 1903 in Cleveland, Ohio Married: November 26, 1921 in St. Petersburg, Surrey County, Virginia Marriage ending: 1931 Died: December 07, 1994 in Cleveland, Ohio Age at death: 90
2 Dorothy "Dot" Lee Wills Born: 1924 in Hopewell, Virginia
... +Walter Albert Fay Born: August 20, 1920 Married: December 21, 1947
2 Homer Eugene Wills, Jr. Born: September 16, 1926 in Cleveland, Ohio
Died: July 1994 in Washington, DC Age at death: 67 est. Buried Brooklyn
Heights, Ohio.
... +Joanne UNKNOWN