Willard Speer

FUNERAL SERVICES; 2:00 P.M. Saturday, October 24, 2015, at Comanche Funeral Home Chapel. BURIAL: Oakwood Cemetery MEMORIALS The Gideon Bible, c/o The Gideons International, Comanche/Hamilton Camp, P.O. Box 742, Comanche, Texas 76442. “Opa” Willard C. Speer, age 91, passed away on Thursday, October 22, 2015, in Comanche, Texas. He was born on November 12, 1923, in Princeton, Iowa, to Arthur Clifford and Bertha Alto (Shinn) Speer. He was a World War II veteran serving in the United States Army as a Signal Corpsman and was serving in France when the Peace Treaty was signed. He re-enlisted in the Army and returned to Germany, where he met and, on August 3, 1950, married Ursula Krause. After serving in the military, Opa worked for the United States Civil Service at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, until he retired and moved to Comanche in 1976. He was a kind man and was devoted to his wife, children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. He was a member of East Side Baptist Church. He is survived by his daughters, Edith S. Branch of Comanche and Sylvia Kay Conway and husband Gail of Comanche; four grandchildren: Brian Branch and wife Laurel of Michigan, Michelle Davis of Comanche, Jenny Conway of Comanche, and Jon Conway of Comanche; four great-grandchildren: Coleman Branch of Colorado, Brandon Branch of Georgia, Dylan Branch of Michigan, and Maddie Jackson of Comanche; and numerous nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his wife, Ursula Krause Speer on December 26, 2009.