Jim Willis
(Last modified on July 2, 2006)
On June 13, 2003, Jim finished his 35th year of teaching English at Granada High School and decided to retire after a long and very happy career. As of July 2, 2006, he is finishing his twenty-third year of teaching English a few hours weekly at Las Positas Community College. By the way, he was named the Livermore School District Teacher of the Year for 1996 and the part-time Teacher of the Year at Las Positas in 2004.
He was diagnosed with prostate cancer in November of 2001, and, after losing 70 pounds (compare the two Thanksgiving pictures on the previous page), he began eight weeks of radiation treatment at the East Bay Cancer Center in Hayward, CA in September of 2002 and finished his treatments just before Thankssgiving. He is feeling fine at this date.
Jim was born on May 21, 1944 at St. Joseph's Hospital in Yakima, Washington. He was the youngest child of Winnifred (better known as "Mike") and Judge Robert Willis, his brother also being named Robert and his sister Lynn.
Jim attended St. Paul's Grade School and was the valedictorian of the 1962 graduating class at Marquette High School. He played basketball for two years and baseball for four years while at Marquette. He was also named the Exchange Club 1962 "boy of the year" - an award given to the one outstanding scholar-athlete of the four Yakima high schools.
He entered the Jesuits in 1962 and left the Order in November of 1967. He graduated from Gonzaga University in 1968 with majors in Latin and philosophy and minors in Greek and English, and he was a pitcher on the 1968 Gonzaga team.
Jim and Claudia Foltz married on August 24, 1968 and moved to Livermore the week after their wedding.
Aunt Tat on her 90th birthday!
Claudia and Jim are "for the birds" at Paradise Cove, Oahu, Hawaii in June, 2002.
Notice Claudia's tatoo!
Jim, winning a Northern California Outstanding Teacher award, with the students who nominated him (Travis Newton, class of 2002;
Wendy Robson, class of 1996; Merlin Newton, class of 2001).
Jim's e-mail address is: jimwillisca@comcast.net
