James Leroy (Jim) Willows Jr.

James Leroy (Jim) Willows Jr. of Pleasanton died June 21. He was 82.

Willows was born on Oct. 21 1931 in Vallejo, the only son of James Willows, Sr. and Marguerite Patterson Willows. He grew up in the Bay Area and studied physics at UC Berkeley, where he was a champion on the competitive chess team. He began his career as a nuclear physicist at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. In 1960, he lost most of his vision due to a degenerative eye disease and continued the rest of his career as a computer scientist at the Lab before retiring in 1993.

Helping others was always an important part of Willows' life. He was a deacon in the Presbyterian Church before converting to Catholicism in 1987 and joining the Knights of Columbus. After losing his vision, he turned his passion for helping others toward the blind community, serving as vice president and then president of the National Federation of the Blind of California. During his years of service, he accomplished many things, including co-authoring SB105, a state bill to improve services for the visually impaired in California. He received several awards from the governor's office.

After retirement, Willows spent most of his time with his family and two dogs, but he continued to work toward his life-long goal of improving quality of life for the visually impaired. His favorite hobbies were listening to books on tape, cheering for the San Francisco Giants and Cal Berkeley sports teams and staying abreast of current events on news radio.

In the last few years, his health and mobility gradually declined due to a battle with cancer as well as his age, although he fought vigilantly and never lost his strong positive spirit. Willows will always be remembered as a strong and caring person, a loving husband, father, role model and man of service to his community.

Willows is survived by his wife, Mary Willows, and his sons and their partners Jimmy Willows and Mike Kawalek and Donny and Katie Willows.

A memorial service is scheduled for Saturday, June 28 at 11 a.m. at Graham-Hitch Mortuary, 4167 First St. in Pleasanton. A reception will follow.

In lieu of flowers, donations and contributions should be sent to the National Federation of the Blind of California Inc.