Oliver Willard Kershaw
Date of Birth: Sept. 14, 1911
Place of Birth: Garrison, KS
Father and Mother’s Names: Jarvis and Fannie (Diamon) Kershaw; Jarvis Drive in Manhattan is named for Jarvis Kershaw
Spouse and Children's Names: Esther (Walters) Kershaw (wife), Dan (son), David (son)
Date Entered Service: Joined in Lincoln, Nebraska. Began active duty on March 1, 1943.
Service Branch: Navy
Rank/Specialty: Lieutenant Junior Grade
Service ID: N/A
Division/Company/Unit info: N/A
Awards and Commendations: N/A
Riley Connection: Willard lived at 1920 Humboldt St. in Manhattan.
Date of Discharge: N/A
Date of Death (Age): June 26, 1984 (age 72) in Manhattan, Kansas.
Grave Location: Sunset Cemetery, Manhattan, Kansas
Bio: Willard Kershaw grew up in Garrison, Kansas. He graduated from Garrison High School and went on to attend Kansas State College. He studied agriculture and graduated from KSC in 1935. At the time that the U.S. entered World War II, Willard was managing a grain elevator in Smith Center, Kansas. He traveled to Lincoln, Nebraska to join the Navy, and he attended Officer Candidate School, which was located at Harvard University. He was then stationed at the Seattle Naval Air Station for three months. From December 1943 through January 1944 Willard served with the Fleet Air Wing Four at Adak and Attu in the Aleutian Islands in Alaska. Attu was a forward weather warning base, and Lt. Kershaw served at Attu through the end of the war. After the war, he served one year as an assistant communications officer at the Naval Air Station in Olathe, KS. He was then assigned to a reserve unit where he served for several years before he was given an honorable discharge.
Following his service, Willard joined the Walters Sand Co. in Manhattan, which was owned by his father-in-law, Dan Walters. When Dan Walters retired, Willard and his brother-in-law, John Walters, took over the operation of the company, which involved sand production, sewer and water line work, and work on water treatment plants. After the 1951 flood, the Walters Sand Co. was hired by the city to be in charge of the massive clean-up effort, which included repairing sewer and water lines, repairing sidewalks, and street work. Over the years, the company was awarded many contracts to pave streets in Manhattan. In 1961, Willard bought the ready-mix concrete division and named it Kershaw Ready-Mix Concrete and Sand Company.
Kershaw Ready-Mix Concrete and Sand Company supplied materials to construct many buildings on the Kansas State campus, including Ahearn Field House, the KSU Student Union, McCain Auditorium, Bluemont Hall, Ackert Hall, Durland Hall, and the veterinarian complex. When Willard died in 1984, his obituary stated the “ready-mix company literally laid the foundation for much of present-day Manhattan.”
Willard married Esther Walters in 1935, and they had two sons.
