Willard Ray Bass

Willard Ray Bass: December 4, 1944-February 25, 2021.

Willard is survived by his three children, Kelly, Cindy and Kevin and their families. He was “PAPS” to many grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Willard’s wife, Sherri Bass, preceded him in death on November 6, 2020 after a valiant battle with cancer.

Willard was born in Modoc County, California, where he learned to work hard at an early age. That work ethic landed him, Sherri, and the 2 girls in Arizona in 1967 by way of Loveness Logging, and he lived here in the Pinetop-Lakeside area ever since. Kevin later joined the family in 1973. No question that Willard’s favorite work was logging and being in the woods, whether it was loading logs or hauling logs. He took great pride in his Mack and Kenworth trucks he owned. He could fix anything and was often sought out for his skills as a mechanic. If Willard said he was going to do it, you could consider it done and done right. Growing up, Willard was very athletic and especially loved playing baseball and basketball (and was good at them too!). The love of sports was prevalent in his life and he knew his sports history well. If you stopped by to see him, he would have been watching some type of sporting event. He especially loved Nascar, Baseball, Football, Golf, and College Basketball. He loved the Boston Celtics when Larry Bird played. Willard also had a love of old cars from the time he was young, and as one of the old “Canby” friends told me – he inspired his son to get into old cars. Willard also enjoyed hunting, but his greatest disappointment was never being drawn for an antelope tag.

There are no immediate services being held for Willard. The family would like to plan a Celebration of Life sometime in the future. If you would like any information you may contact Cindy by email at [email protected] or by cell at 928-358-3873. The family thanks everyone for their support and prayers during this time.