{"id":32934,"date":"2026-04-06T16:29:38","date_gmt":"2026-04-06T22:29:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/?post_type=case&p=32934"},"modified":"2026-04-10T12:00:17","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T18:00:17","slug":"john-bennett-willard-age-80-of-helena","status":"publish","type":"case","link":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/obituaries\/john-bennett-willard-age-80-of-helena\/","title":{"rendered":"John Bennett “Jack” Willard, age 80, of Helena"},"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","class_list":{"0":"post-32934","1":"case","2":"type-case","3":"status-publish","5":"entry","6":"has-post-thumbnail"},"acf":[],"fields":{"first_name":"John","middle_name":"Bennett","last_name":"Willard","date_born":"08\/04\/1945","date_died":"04\/05\/2026","age":"80","city":"Helena","state":"Montana","full_obituary_text":"

John\u00a0Bennett\u00a0Willard, known to\u00a0family\u00a0and friends\u00a0as “Jack,” went\u00a0home to\u00a0heaven\u00a0on\u00a0<\/span>Easter Sunday 2026, surrounded by family. Jack was an artist, enjoying everything from <\/span>drawing,\u00a0crafting,\u00a0playing\u00a0the\u00a0guitar,\u00a0knitting,\u00a0and\u00a0had\u00a0a\u00a0love\u00a0for\u00a0ventriloquism.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Jack\u00a0was\u00a0born\u00a0on\u00a0August\u00a0<\/span>4th,\u00a0<\/span>1945,\u00a0in\u00a0Helena,\u00a0MT,\u00a0to\u00a0John\u00a0and\u00a0Helen\u00a0Willard.\u00a0They\u00a0moved\u00a0to Billings in 1970.\u00a0Following\u00a0his\u00a0father’s retirement, Jack lived with and cared for his parents for\u00a0many\u00a0years.\u00a0Jack\u00a0married\u00a0Patty\u00a0in\u00a02007.\u00a0He\u00a0truly\u00a0loved\u00a0his\u00a0stepdaughter, Nancy\u00a0Joy,\u00a0and immensely enjoyed the time\u00a0he\u00a0spent with her.\u00a0They had no\u00a0other children and\u00a0eventually divorced in 2025.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

He\u00a0held\u00a0a\u00a0passion\u00a0for\u00a0the\u00a0elderly\u00a0and\u00a0worked\u00a0for\u00a0many\u00a0years\u00a0at\u00a0Mission\u00a0Ridge retirement center in Billings, MT.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In\u00a02009 Jack\u00a0was welcomed into\u00a0the\u00a0LDS church in Billings and\u00a0formed many\u00a0friendships with\u00a0the\u00a0people he\u00a0met at\u00a0church.\u00a0He\u00a0remained\u00a0a devoted member\u00a0of the\u00a0church\u00a0until\u00a0his\u00a0passing.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Jack\u00a0was\u00a0preceded in\u00a0death\u00a0by\u00a0both\u00a0parents.\u00a0He\u00a0is survived\u00a0by\u00a0his\u00a0sister\u00a0Francie\u00a0Shoquist (Darrell),\u00a0nephew\u00a0Tim\u00a0and\u00a0niece\u00a0Lindsey\u00a0Thomas\u00a0(Jeb).\u00a0brother\u00a0Jim\u00a0Willard\u00a0(Jennifer) and nephew John, and many favorite cousins.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","photo":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Willard-John-scaled-e1775660145348.jpg","youtube_video_url":"","service_status":"public","event_title1":"Funeral Service","event_date1":"2026-04-24","start_time1":"11:00am","end_time1":"","location1":"Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints","address1":"4225 Bobcat Drive","city1":"Helena","state1":"Montana","zipcode1":"59602","event_title2":"Reception","event_date2":"2026-04-24","start_time2":"Following the Funeral Service","end_time2":"","location2":"Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints","address2":"4225 Bobcat Drive","city2":"Helena","state2":"Montana","zipcode2":"59602","event_title3":"Graveside Service","event_date3":"2026-04-24","start_time3":"Following the Reception","end_time3":"","location3":"Forestvale Cemetery","address3":"490 Forestvale Rd. ","city3":"Helena","state3":"Montana","zipcode3":"59602","event_title4":"","event_date4":"","start_time4":"","end_time4":"","location4":"","address4":"","city4":"","state4":"","zipcode4":"","event_title5":"","event_date5":"","start_time5":"","end_time5":"","location5":"","address5":"","city5":"","state5":"","zipcode5":"","event_title6":"","event_date":"","start_time6":"","end_time6":"","location6":"","address6":"","city6":"","state6":"","zipcode6":"","event_title7":"","event_date7":"","start_time7":"","end_time7":"","location7":"","address7":"","city7":"","state7":"","zipcode7":"","event_title8":"","event_date8":"","start_time8":"","end_time8":"","location8":"","address8":"","city8":"","state8":"","zipcode8":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/case\/32934","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/case"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/case"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32934"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32934"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}