Anna Mae Scheffling Willis

Anna Mae Scheffing Willis, known to many as "Ann," was born to Eugene Shibley and Irene Eugenia Miller Scheffing on August 1, 1925, in Creve Coeur, Missouri, where her parents worked in truck farming and supplied produce to the St. Louis markets.
Ann graduated from Creve Coeur High School, serving as Senior Class President. During World War II she moved to Bryan-College Station, Texas, to live with her sister and brother-in-law, Ethel and Delvin Knight, while Delvin was attending Texas A&M College in the Veterinary School. It was there that she met J.C. "Jake" Willis, Jr. of Eagle Lake, Texas, also a veterinary student. They married on May 28, 1944, in Columbus, Texas.
Following Jake's graduation in 1945, the couple moved to Smithville, Texas, for his internship, where their daughter Jo Anne ("Jody") was born. In 1946 they moved to Wharton, Texas, where Jake and Ann established the Wharton Veterinary Hospital. Their first son, John C. Willis III, was born there. During their years in the Wharton area, they also farmed cotton and rice.
In 1952, seeking to expand Jake's passion for farming, the family moved to the Hollandale/Glen Allan, Mississippi area. In those early years in the Delta, Ann and Jake worked side by side raising cotton, rice, soybeans, cattle, and sheep. Their second son, Ralph "Rusty" Todd Willis, was born in 1955.
Ann was active in the Glen Allan PTA and was a devoted supporter of her children's activities. She was also an active member of Hollandale Presbyterian Church. She had a lifelong love of baseball and took great pride in following the Major League career of her cousin, Bob Scheffing. She spent many hours practicing with John and Rusty and attending countless Little League, Babe Ruth, and American Legion baseball games-always showing up fully for her children.
After "Doc" (as Jake was known in Mississippi) passed away in 1980, Ann traveled extensively, visiting New Zealand, China, The Netherlands, Belgium, France, and Germany, and experiencing the Panama Canal. She also visited all 50 states. A gifted and creative person, Ann was an accomplished seamstress and later pursued oil painting, eventually presenting several one-woman shows of her work.
To her grandchildren, she was lovingly known as "Granner," a name that held deep affection and captured her unique spirit, warmth, and presence in their lives.
Ann was preceded in death by her parents, Eugene Shibley and Irene Miller Scheffing; her siblings Ethel Eugenia Scheffing Knight, Donald Otto Scheffing, Walter Eugene Scheffing, Marion George "Jim" Scheffing, and Eugene Shibley Scheffing Jr.; her husband, Dr. John Cornelius "Doc" Willis Jr.; and her son, John C. Willis III.
She is survived by her daughter, Jo Anne "Jody" Willis Lupher (Mark), and her son, Ralph "Rusty" Todd Willis (Kelly); grandchildren Marsha Jo Lupher Bala (Greg), Kerry Anne Lupher, John "Jay" C. Willis IV (Natalie), Mark Leslie Lupher Jr. (Shelley), David Nolan Willis (Angie), Mary Celeste Willis Sanders (Andy), Candace Renae Willis Peets (Jason), and Ralph Todd Willis Jr.; eleven great-grandchildren; and two great-great-grandchildren.
Ann passed away peacefully on November 8, 2025, in Deer Park, Texas, at the age of 100.
Visitation will be held Friday, November 21, 2025 from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. at Mortimer Funeral Home in Greenville, Mississippi. Register online and express condolences at www.mortimerfh.com