Dr. Edward Payson Willard III of Springfield, MO, passed away peacefully following a short illness, on July 13, 2017. He was born October 31, 1939 in Commerce TX, child of Edward Payson (Jr.) and Pauline (Leeman) Willard, both deceased. Payson was raised in Highland Park (Dallas), TX, along with his elder sister Francis (Willard) Nevin (deceased).
Payson attended Southern Methodist University from 1957-1964, receiving a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering, as well as his BS and MS in Industrial Engineering. Attending Oklahoma State University, Payson received his PhD in Industrial Engineering in 1970. He was a member of numerous honorary academic societies and recipient of the National Science Foundation Research Award for his doctoral dissertation.
Payson was employed from 1966-1991 at Texas Instruments, specializing in project management and development and operations research. After founding Willard & Associates in 1991, he developed and implemented quality improvement standards for the Department of Energy's multi-billion dollar Superconducting Super Collider project, designed to be the world's largest high energy physics research laboratory utilizing particle acceleration technology. Throughout his career Dr. Willard also taught numerous graduate courses at Southern Methodist University, Missouri State University and Drury University.
In 1978 Payson married Linda Cathryn Bussey of Springfield MO (deceased 2014) in Dallas, TX. The family returned to Springfield in 1995.
Payson was a high school and college Texas statewide tennis and badminton competitor. He was an avid deep sea, pier and freshwater fisherman (catch and release).
He is survived by his daughter Cathryn Lynne Willard, niece Nancy Nevin, nephew Daniel Nevin, brother-in-law Lewis Bussey (Linda Surbaugh), cousins-in-law Lester Barrett Cox, Cindy Lipscomb Bayer, Larry Lipscomb (Tracy), and nephew Colin Bussey.
Burial (cremation) will be in Hazelwood Cemetery.
Published in the News-Leader July 16, 2017