Willard V. Ballenger passed away at his ranch in Madera Ranchos, California on February 24 about a month shy of his hundredth birthday. He will be remembered for his many roles, including, but not limited to: beloved father, husband, polio survivor, veteran, jazz musician, altruist, wedding officiant, quarter horse breeder, grandfather, great grandfather, optimist, and guy who liked to slip people a couple bucks – just because.

He was born on March 16, 1924 with California history in his blood.

Willard's grandfather Joseph Arthur Boyd emigrated from Quebec, Canada to San Francisco just before 1900, and became Concord, California's first mayor after working to get the city incorporated in 1905.

Papa came a few decades later. His parents Wayman and Charlotte "Lottie" Boyd Ballenger brought him home from Oakland's Merritt Hospital to Concord, where he spent his childhood. He attended Concord Grammar School then Mt. Diablo High a few years behind his brother Wayman Boyd.

He was in student leadership, ran track, played on the basketball team and was a member of the cheerleading squad, or as his 1941 yearbook put it a "master of the megaphone." A self-described "jazz freak," he also played the drums in a school jazz band. His bass drum was emblazoned with a "WB."

By the time Willard graduated, America had joined WWII. So the Ballenger boys did, too.

Mere days after getting his diploma, Willard enlisted in the U.S. Army and entered active duty in 1943. At 19 years old, he was shipped off to the Northern France and Rhineland Campaigns to serve under General George Patton as a private first class in the 3rd Army, 80th Division Company D, 318th Battalion, 4th Armored Division. A "mortarman" in the infantry, Willard covered up to 20 miles a day.

In September 1944 during the Battle of Nancy, Papa was hit by a German shrapnel shelling near the Moselle River. His mother was sent a Western Union telegram on October 3: "Regret to inform you your son was seriously wounded in action in France Sixteen September".

Willard was sent to a British hospital to be treated for arm and leg injuries. He needed seven surgeries. Throughout his life, doctors would be perplexed by the mysterious flecks that appeared in his bones in X-Rays. Just a little Nazi shrapnel.

Bandaged and unable to write home himself, Papa dictated letters to Red Cross nurses, letting his parents know he was "Feeling fine and improving every day," he wrote, and getting "plenty of rest, good food and good care."Updates from "the Contra Costa County Boy" made it into the local Concord newspaper.

Willard was discharged from the army in 1945 with honors, including an Expert Infantry Badge, a ribbon with one bronze campaign star, a Good Conduct Ribbon and a Purple Heart. While he lost track of his Purple Heart long ago, Willard did keep a record of a joke medal he received during his hospital stay in England. According to a letter from a captain in command, "The Gold Brick Medal" was bestowed on Willard "for constantly standing around scratching himself and bragging of 'Sunny' California."

Back in sunny California, as a strapping veteran with jet black hair and hazel eyes, he attended the University of the Pacific in Stockton on the G.I. Bill. He studied business administration and joined the Rho Phi Lambda fraternity. He graduated in 1949 and moved home to Concord.

After the war, Willard reunited with his high school sweetheart Elenore Katherine Mahan. They married in 1949 and had five children: Greg, Nancy, JeFrey, Valerie, and Bradley. He supported his family working as the Contra Costa County Assistant County Clerk at the Court House in Martinez. He stayed at the job 36 years until he retired in 1987. Then there were his side hustles, like playing the drums in the Will Ballenger Trio, which booked gigs throughout the Bay Area and Central Valley. He also worked as a wedding officiant, and performed ceremonies for both of his daughters, his son Brad, and his granddaughter Crystal.

The gigs were a testament to Willard's character. He had a tirelessly sunny disposition and was always beaming and uplifting to others. He never had a bad day. He loved to sing, and made sure to have printed lyrics of songs he wanted to sing before holiday meals, from carols on Christmas to patriotic ballads and "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" at Easter.

Beyond family and music, Willard had a passion for raising and racing quarter horses. A doctor had told him spending time around the animals would be therapeutic after the trauma of seeing WWII combat, and Papa took the advice to heart. He spent more than 50 years as an owner and breeder. The crowning achievement of his racing career came with his filly "Elite Empress" who won $150,000 in her short life before tragically dying of botulism.

After his wife of more than 50 years passed in 2000, Willard started a new chapter in Madera Ranchos, fulfilling a lifelong dream of having a  ranch. Even his bedroom had a view of the horses. Well into his 80s, Willard was still traveling throughout California, driving himself to visit loved ones, racetracks, Dave Brubeck concerts, his alma matter, and the cabin his family built on Lower Angora Lake near Lake Tahoe in the 1930s. It was only after an accident loading one of his horses into a trailer at 96 years old that he was finally forced to slow down.

In his remaining years, he spent his days at the great Ballenger Ranch, going out for daily milkshakes, taking walks on his property, and watching his family continue with the horse duties.

Papa was buried alongside family members at Memory Gardens Cemetery. He is survived by his sons "JeFo" and Brad Ballenger, daughters Nancy Compton and Valerie Manago, grandchildren Nicole McPhee, Lauren Tabata, Joel, Crystal and Natalie Compton, and great
grandchildren Sicilia Schaefer, Naomi and Kai Tabata and Ella May McPhee. He leaves behind a legacy of generosity, strong handshakes, endless compliments, and deep love of ice cream and potato salad.

We will miss his booming voice and kind heart. Goodbye Papa, luv ya luv ya.