Ridley Wills II hung up on me more than once. It’s not that I think he was ever mad at me, it’s just that when he was done speaking, he was done. He often mailed me clippings from newspapers or magazines over the years to accompany the local history articles he wrote for the paper.
And then he’d call, make sure I received it, and we’d chat about what we’d published in previous issues and what I thought the paper might publish of the things he sent for upcoming issues. We might debate a bit about some language from previous decades that Ridley was still evolving on or he might tell me to hold off on printing on something until he had more time to research a small point.
And then, inevitably, he’d hang up.
William Ridley Wills II, noted local historian, civic leader, and philanthropist, died at home on Jan. 16 after a long and fruitful life. A 7th generation Nashvillian, he was born on June 19, 1934, to Ellen Buckner and Jesse E. Wills. Ridley graduated from Parmer School in 1948 and Montgomery Bell Academy (MBA) in 1952, where he was not (yet!) very book-ish but was named “Most Daring.”
At Vanderbilt University he lived up to that epithet as an imposing lineman on Phi Delta Theta Fraternity’s intramural football team. Fraternity brother and varsity swim captain Larry Stone then convinced Ridley to join the swim team, where he excelled and was eventually named team captain. In the 1956 SEC meet, Ridley made the finals, capturing two third and two fourth place finishes. While he single handedly scored more points at the SEC meet than Vandy had scored in 20 years, his coach took the rest of the team to the movies! It was emblematic: Ridley often excelled, but cared little for the limelight.
After seeing the world as an officer in the U.S. Navy for two years of peacetime service, Ridley joined the National Life and Accident Insurance Company that his grandfather, Ridley Wills, Sr., co- founded in 1901. After working as a field agent and staff manager for two years, Ridley returned to the home office in 1962 as a supervisor, where he met and married the former Irene Weaver Jackson. In 1976 he was elected to the board of National Life and was promoted to Senior Vice-President in 1981. In 1983 National Life was acquired by American General Life Insurance Company in a hostile takeover. Not able to stomach the new corporate culture being inflicted upon the beloved Nashville institution, he eventually resigned, reinventing himself in the process.
What followed was a four decade burst of unanticipated literary output. Building upon a lifelong interest in historic Tennessee postcards, Ridley started teaching night school classes on local history at Belmont and MBA, eventually putting his research skills and encyclopedic memory to work in the form of a first book, Belle Meade: Mansion, Plantation, and Stud. He never really stopped, writing on average nearly a book or booklet a year for the next 40 years! His articles have appeared in state and local historical quarterlies and as a regular feature in The Contributor street newspaper. Eventually his sons even convinced him to tell his own story in My Life with Irene: An Autobiography. As a testament to his efforts, the former “middling” student would receive an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from the University of the South in 2016.
Ridley was also a consistently engaged community leader. Just some of his official titles included: President of Samaritans’ Inc. (1970-71); National Chairman of the Vanderbilt University Living Endowment Campaign (1973-74); Chairman of the Steering Committee for the Vanderbilt Divinity School‘s endowment campaign (1976-78); President of the Cumberland Museum and Science Center (1977); General Chairman of the Nashville Area United Way Campaign (1977-78); General Chairman of Vanderbilt University Reunion (1981); Chairman of the Cumberland Museum Development Drive (1981-82); President of the YMCA of Metropolitan Nashville (1984); President of the Tennessee Historical Society (1985-87); Chairman of the Monteagle Sunday School Assembly Endowment Corporation (1985-87); President of the Nashville Chapter APTA (1987-89); Chairman of the Montgomery Bell Academy Board of Trust (1988-1997); and Chairman of the Monteagle Sunday School Assembly Board (1996-97). He served on numerous other boards, including the Vanderbilt University Board of Trust and the National Trust for Historic Preservation (1988-91).
As many can attest, Wills was an extremely effective and persistent fundraiser for causes he loved. In the 1980s and 1990s, he chaired two capital campaigns for Belle Meade Plantation which were instrumental in preserving the plantation as a historic site. From 1998 to 2001, he chaired Montgomery Bell Academy’s successful $40 million capital campaign. Between 2011 and 2013, Ridley led a successful development drive to restore Glen Leven Mansion, the Land Trust for Tennessee’s historic house off Franklin Pike.
Wills’ awards for his charitable work include the YMCA Service to Youth Award (1977), the YMCA Red Triangle Award (1983), the YMCA’s President’s Award (1987), the Alex De Tocqueville Award from the United Way (1989), and the Distinguished Alumnus award from MBA (1996), where he was also elected a member of the Cum Laude and Totomoi Societies. He was honored by the Land Trust with the Forever Tennessee Conservation Legacy Award in 2019 and by the YMCA as a member of the Southeast Region Hall of Fame in 2021.
Ridley was perhaps most proud of his longtime service as both a deacon, elder and energetic ambassador for The Downtown Presbyterian Church, which has maintained a faithful Christian witness and ministry of practical service to the homeless and others in Nashville’s urban core since it was founded in the wake of First Presbyterian Church’s move out of their historic building to Oak Hill in the 1950’s. His final gift to the city this past Christmas season was to illuminate the church’s unique, Egyptian-themed stained glass windows so that they are visible at night along Rep. John Lewis Way.
Ridley was preceded in death by his wife, Irene, and their son, Jesse Ely Wills III, who died of complications of a congenital heart defect at age 2 in 1968. He is survived by his brother and sister-in law, Matt & Judy Wills, of Colorado Springs, CO, and by his sister Ellen Wills Martin of Washington, D.C. Wills is also survived by his three sons and two daughters-in-law – Betsy and Ridley Wills III, Heather and Morgan Wills, Sr., and Tom Wills, all of Nashville. He is additionally survived by six grandchildren & their spouses- Meade & husband Cyril Le Lay, Ridley Wills IV & wife Grayson, Issac Wills, Jessie Wills, Morgan Wills, Jr., and Laura Jackson Wills.
The family would especially like to thank Spencer Thompson for the kind and steadfast care he has provided to both Ridley and Irene in recent years. Thanks also to Alive Hospice and to Ed Kelley, Lady Walls, and their wonderful team of caregivers at The Perfect Companion.