Willis Pope, III of Columbus, Mississippi

April 11, 1946 - October 24, 2019

Willis Pope, III, passed away Thursday, October 24, 2019 at Baptist Memorial Hospital – Golden Triangle after a two-year battle with cancer. Memorial Gunter Peel Funeral Home & Crematory, 2 ^nd Avenue North, has been entrusted with his arrangements. Services will be Sunday, October 27, 2019 at 3:00 PM in the sanctuary of historic First Baptist Church, with Dr. Shawn Parker officiating. Visitation will be from 1:30 PM to the time of the service. Interment with Military Honors will follow at Friendship Cemetery.

He was born April 11, 1946 in Columbus, MS, the son of the late Norma Craig and Willis Pope, Jr. He was a 1964 graduate of S. D. Lee Senior High School in Columbus and a 1969 graduate of The University of Mississippi where he was a member of Beta Theta Pi Fraternity. He later received Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Agronomy from Mississippi State University. While a student at Ole Miss, he met his future wife Carolyn Wood Pope on the campus of Mississippi University for Women.

Willis was commissioned a 2LT at Ole Miss in 1969 and completed Infantry Officer School at Fort Benning, GA. He then became a Combat Intelligence Officer. He was deployed to Vietnam in November 1969 and served as an Intelligence officer in Saigon for one tour. He then joined the Special Forces and served in the Army Reserves 1975-1981 and was promoted to Captain. In November 2018, The Department of Veterans Affairs declared him fully disabled due to his being exposed to Agent Orange while in Vietnam.

Willis had a diverse career path and worked for Edward Jones, AmSouth Bank, Weyerhaeuser, McCrary Real Estate and Farmers Home Administration. He enjoyed contributing to the Commercial Dispatch via Letters to the Editor. Willis was an avid reader, intellectual, and outdoorsman with a variety of interests ranging from religion and politics to gardening, hunting and fishing.

Willis is survived by his wife of 50 years Carolyn Wood Pope, two children Allison Pope Barton (Greg) of Hartsville, TN and Willis “Craig” Pope, IV (Angela) of Worthington, OH, seven grandchildren Wiley Barton, Chandler Barton, Laney Barton  and Audrey Barton and Willis Pope,  V, Ivy Pope  and Grant Pope. He is also survived by two sisters Martha Pope Bozeman (Eddie) and Betty Pope Waters (Mike), all of Columbus and several nieces and nephews.

Pallbearers will be Greg Barton, Wiley Barton, Chandler Barton, Will Pope, Grant Pope, Michael Waters, IV and Clarke Bozeman, III. Honorary pallbearers will be Charles Swoope, Stan Boden, Sam Bardwell, Nick Hairston, Randy McCall and the staff of the Infusion Center at Baptist Memorial. In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorials made to First Baptist Church, designated to The Crossing (Building Fund), Love In Deed, Music Ministry, or the Library Fund, P.O. Box 829, Columbus, MS 39703.