Willard Richard Mitchem, 73, a native of Uriah, Ala. and a resident of Loxley, passed away Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2014.
Willard graduated from Baldwin County High School in May 1960, and went to work for the FBI in Washington as a fingerprint technician.
By the end of that year he had found what would turn into a lifetime career in the telephone business, starting with Stromberg Carlson as an installer of central office equipment in Atmore. He then went on from there doing this in small towns throughout the East, Southeast and Midwest for about four years.
Then he found a position with Gulf Telephone Co. in Foley, and built a home in Loxley. He advanced there to engineer and director of the central office, and retired in 2000.
Willard met Willie Mae Bradley while working a summer job in Loxley, and they were married in August 1961. The two, and later their first daughter, Sherry, traveled across the country to his various installation jobs.
They raised three daughters and a son before he became a widower in 2009. Then in 2010 he met Pattilynne Miller, and they were married in February 2011.
Willard was a lifelong member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, serving in several callings including service on the Mobile Stake high council and as branch president of the Robertsdale branch.
He was preceded in death by his parents, William Richard and IV Mitchem; a brother, Leonard D. Mitchem; and his first wife, Willie Mae Mitchem.
He is survived by his wife, Pattilynne Mitchem of Loxley; a son, Brian Willard (Tiffany) Mitchem of Daphne; three daughters, Sherry Lynne (Kenny) Mons of Loxley, Sandy Lynn (Mark) Dawson of Loxley and Shawna Ann (Walter) McNeil of Orange Beach; three stepchildren, Dawn Workman of Louisville, Ky., Anne Marie (Glenn) Harvey of Lebanon, Ky. and Angela Kim (Gary) Baker of Jeffersonville, Ind.; a brother, Joe Edward (Rita) Mitchem of Vestavia Hills; two sisters, Irene (Terry) Benham of Stapleton and Willlodean Hastings of Bay Minette; 11 grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren. Funeral services for Mr. Mitchem will be held Friday, Feb. 7, 2014, at 2 p.m., from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Daphne, with Bishop Jason Nimmer officiating. Burial will follow at Rosinton Road Cemetery in Robertsdale.
There will be a visitation for Mr. Mitchem at Mack Funeral Home in Robertsdale on Thursday, Feb. 6, 2014, from 6 until 8 p.m.
“We must cherish one another, watch over one another, comfort one another and gain instruction that we may all sit down in heaven together.” ~ Lucy Mack Smith.
Arrangements by Mack Funeral Home & Crematory, Robertsdale.
