In 1974, Terry Willis joined the Navy fresh out of high school. At the time, there were not many women in the service, let alone those working as Ocean System Technicians. Working in the Navy, Willis tracked Russian submarines. She said, though they did not quite understand it at the time, they were essentially spies.
Shortly after Willis joined, the Navy changed its policy that if a woman became pregnant, they did not automatically get discharged. At the time, most women were still choosing to leave, but when Willis found out she was pregnant, she was not ready move on, so she stayed.
She said that this was quite a challenge for the military as she was at a base that did not have a regular doctor and did not know how to address her medical needs. Periodically, Willis would be sent to the medical facility at Treasure Island, which was an eight-hour drive. There was an option to get a waiver for a civilian doctor if medical need dictated, which Willis requested.
Quite some time went by without an answer. Then, when an admiral visited from Hawaii to tour the facility, Willis spoke with the admiral on her desire to see the doctor. Things happened quickly after that, though Willis stated that there were some that weren’t pleased with her jumping the chain of command. Willis was one of the first in the entire Navy that stayed during pregnancy.
She left the Navy in 1978 and, at that time, moved to Utah, starting in Provo and remaining there for two years before her ex-husband was hired at a local coal mine. They then moved to Wellington and Willis has resided in the area ever since.
For the past six years, Willis has served on the Price City Council, coming on when Miles Nelson vacated his seat to take over as the head of the Price City Public Works department. The achievement she is most proud of is spearheading the city’s bike park through phase one. And while she will not serve another term on the council, Willis is looking forward to assisting with phase two of the project.
Even though she is vacating her seat, Willis wants the people of Price to know that community involvement is crucial to the city and its efforts. She explained that many of the city council meetings have no public attendance and she hopes that there are more people watching the meetings via the online stream.
“Getting involved is a good way to accomplish some of those things and give the council input on how it needs to be done,” said Willis. She stressed that this is the only way that the council can truly serve the people; by hearing from the public.
Other than community involvement, Willis explained that funding was always a big challenge. The wish is to run the budget as lean as possible, though there are many projects that need to be completed. Price City prides itself on running within the budget.
Looking to the future, Willis has no immediate plans to dive back into politics, though she stated that she is taking it all in and is not ruling anything out. She will stay involved in the sense of helping with phase two of the bike park and has already spoken with Price City Mayor Mike Kourianos on the downtown project.
When asked what Willis would like to say to the council, she urged teamwork. “Keep up the work as a team. You don’t always have to agree, but always respect and listen to each other’s opinions,” Willis stated.
One focus that Willis will have moving forward is her art, which she has turned into a successful career. Currently, she has an art exhibit that is available for the public and visitors to view. The exhibit is on display at the Prehistoric Museum, located at 155 East Main in Price, and will be available through February 2022.
