James Edward “Ed” Willis, 96, of Valdosta, died on Tuesday, 12 May, 2026, at Valdosta’s Langdale Hospice House. He had most recently resided at Langdale Place. Mr. Willis was born on 12 September 1929, the son of Carey Curry and Jimmie Allie Brown Willis. He grew up in Columbus, Ga., but with ancestral roots in Talbot, Atkinson, and Berrien Counties. As a child he enjoyed, along with his cousin Bill Moll, many summers on their maternal grandmother’s farm near Cat Creek. His paternal grandfather was a Confederate veteran.

Following graduation from Columbus High School Mr. Willis attended Georgia Southwestern. He went on from there to the University of Georgia, where in 1950 he received his degree in business administration.

He married Jane Burr Rogers in Griffin, Ga, in 1952. The couple resided in Arlington, Va., during most of his two years of service (1951-52) in the U.S. Army. After a brief stay (1953) in Brooklyn, N.Y., they settled in the Atlanta area. In New York and Atlanta he worked for the Royal Insurance Company.

In 1960, Mr. Willis moved his family from Decatur to Valdosta, where he had accepted an opportunity offered by Harley (Jr.), W.P., and John Langdale to join them in forming an insurance brokerage. In 1971 the Langdale-Willis Company acquired the former residence at 707 N. Patterson and, in a notable early success for Valdosta’s historic preservation movement, adapted it for reuse as office space. In 1986, Mr. Willis bought out the Langdales’ shares, then continued to operate the firm until Blanton & Griffin purchased it from him in 1988. He continued to work as an account executive until 2001.

In Valdosta, Mr. Willis joined First Baptist Church and for the rest of his life remained a member there. He became a faithful supporter of the Boy Scouts, serving one term as President of the Alapaha Area Council. He became active in the Exchange, the Elks (1962- 2026), and the Rotary Clubs (1979-2021). His patriotic memberships included the American Legion, the Sons of Confederate Veterans, and the Sons of the American Revolution. His social affiliations included membership in the Twelve Old Men, a supper club.

Mr. Willis continued from youth into old age to enjoy stamp collecting, coin collecting, and reading. From the 1960s he added foreign travel to his hobbies, and treated his wife and children to trips to destinations in the Americas, Europe, Africa, and Asia. He was an especially avid reader of military history and transportation history, and in 2024 gifted his book collections in those fields to, respectively, the Special Collections of VSU’s Odum Library and the Lowndes County Historical Society & Museum.

His interest in history and his commitment public service resulted in decades of Mr. Willis’s very active involvement in the Historical Society. He served two terms as its President (1975-76; 1999-2003). During the first term he negotiated the transfer of ‘the caboose’ from the City of Valdosta to the Society, where it remains on display in the Museum garden on W. Central. In the mid-1990s he served as editor of five of the Society’s calendars, including those for 1995 and 1996 which document the military service of Lowndes Countians to the Allied victory in World War II. For those and other services he received the Society’s President’s Award in 2005 and was granted a Life Membership in 2017.

Mr. Willis is survived by a son, Alfred Willis, two daughters and sons in law, Kathi & Roy Hunnewell of Valdosta and Carey Ann & Russell Kirkland of Hermitage, TN; four grandchildren, Chase (& Amber) Hunnewell of Hahira, Kati (& Chris, Jr.) Gaither, of Valdosta, Sara Jane (& Andrew) DiCostanzo of Franklin, TN and Carey Beth Kirkland of Nashville, TN. Also surviving are five great grandchildren, Drew & Levi Robinson, Nora & Gloria DiCostanzo and James Flynn Gaither and four nephews, Mac (& Lynne) Hammond, Errol (& Carolyn) Van Stralen, Daved (& Fabra) Van Stralen and Cary (& Jovina) Van Stralen and several cousins and other relatives. He is preceded in death by his wife, Jane Burr Rogers Willis, and two sisters, Mary Carey Hammond and Linda Ann Aldridge. A special thanks to the Home Health Aides, Melanie Toal & Penny Harwood, also the staff and nurses at Langdale Hospice House and Hospice of South Georgia who assisted Mr. Willis.

The funeral service for Mr. Willis will be held at 11 am on Saturday, May 16, 2026, in the chapel of Carson McLane Funeral Home. Rev. Dennis Massie will officiate. Burial will follow at McLane Riverview Memorial Gardens. The family will receive friends at the funeral home prior to the service on Saturday from 10 am until service time. Flowers will be accepted or donations may be made to the Lowndes County Historical Society, First Baptist Church or Hospice of South Georgia. Condolences may be conveyed to the family on the obituary page of www.mclanecares.com. Carson McLane Funeral Home