A Celebration of Life for SSG Willis “Papa” Hail, ARMY (Ret), Clarksville, will be Friday, April 16, 2021, at 12 p.m. at Sykes Funeral Home. The family will serve as pallbearers. Burial will follow at Kentucky Veterans Cemetery West in Hopkinsville, KY. Full military honors will be rendered. Bro. Tom Lynch will officiate. The family will receive friends from 10 a.m. until the hour of service. Willis passed away on April 12, 2021, surrounded by his loving family.
He was born on September 26, 1935, to Joseph and Bertha Boatman Hail in Anadarko, OK. He retired with 20 years of service from the United States Army. Willis served in Vietnam and was the recipient of a Purple Heart, Bronze Star, and Air Medal among other meritorious awards. After retirement, he built radio towers for 15 years. He loved his family, enjoyed hunting, fishing, watching reruns of Gunsmoke, playing Scrabble and card games, and the Atlanta Braves.
In addition to his parents, he is preceded in death by his siblings: Wilburn Hail, William Hail, and Wilma Brakebill. Willis is survived by his wife of 66 years, Betty Hail; children: Donna (Tom) Laliberte, Barry (Karen) Hail, and Terri (Mike) Childress; grandchildren: Sherry (Mark) Cooley, David (Theresia) Varela, David Laliberte, Mitchell Laliberte, Justin Childress, and Brittany (Jarrett) Grasty; great-grandchildren: Dillon, Holley, David Kyle, Cooper, Jasmine, and Oliver; siblings: Willard Hail, Willie Hail, and Bert McDuffie.
Please visit Willis’s guestbook at www.sykesfuneralhome.com and share a memory with the family.