Willard Daniel Ireland, Jr.

IRELAND, Willard Daniel, Jr., of Dayton, passed away Tuesday, 2 Jun 2021, at Hospice of Dayton. He was born in Dayton on 16 Aug 1936 to Willard Daniel Ireland, Sr. and Margaret Enid (Jenkins) Ireland, who both preceded him in death. He was the oldest of three; his brother, William Ireland, also preceded him in death and his sister, Kathleen (Ireland) Lauri, survives him. He is also survived by his nephew, David Lauri, his niece, Kathleen Lauri-Lewis and his nephew-in-law, Garth Lewis. His great-nephew, Carl Lewis, also preceded him.
Will joined the army after high school, leaving for Fort Knox in Dec 1954. He spent time in Alaska, Texas, Maryland and Arlington, Virginia. He also served in Vietnam in 1969 and 1970. Retiring from the army after more than 20 years’ service, Will moved to Arlington, where he worked for the United States Patent office for a second career. His brother lived with him in Virginia for a period of time. Later his niece and nephew-in-law moved to Virginia; when they returned to Dayton in 1998, Will retired a second time and moved back home also.
Will was an avid gardener; a superb griller, smoker, and cook; and a hunter. He had many stories to share of hunting all across Montgomery, Clark, and Gallia counties with “Pop” Jenkins, his grandfather. He had many memories from his early years that his sister was too young to know about, making his stories new to the family. He met many wonderful people along his way through life and will be missed.
In lieu of flowers, please send stories of your time with him to his niece, Kathleen Lauri-Lewis, 328 Brydon Rd., Kettering, OH 45419 or by email to remember_will@davidlauri.com. There will be a private memorial service for the family.