John C. Willis, Jr. died peacefully in his family home in Winchester, Massachusetts on February 7, 2026.

John, or "Jock" as he was known to family, close friends, and long-time piano students, dedicated his life to music. He was an accomplished pianist and composer, but his true calling was as a devoted, patient, and supportive piano teacher. Jock attributed his deep passion for music to hearing his childhood piano teacher, Ms. Ruth Hayden, play the first movement of Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata. After that, Jock said “I am hooked, music will be my profession.”

For Jock, playing the piano was a joyful and rewarding experience. Although he enjoyed success as a performer and composer, Jock’s greatest reward came from teaching students of all ages and abilities to play the piano, the profession he practiced for over 60 years. He ensured that his beginning students learned and mastered the basics of music and the instrument. For his more advanced students, the breadth of Jock’s musical repertoire and his knowledge of the piano, musical theory, and composition provided endless opportunities for them to grow and excel as musicians.

Jock is survived by his brother Dudley H. Willis and numerous nieces and nephews, as well as his dear friend Maria Stepanik. He was preceded in death by his parents, John C. Willis and Deborah Hall Willis, his sister, Edith Hall Willis Harris, and his brother, David Hall Willis.

Jock was born in Boston on June 28, 1936 and grew up in Winchester. He graduated from Darrow School in New Lebanon, New York in 1955 and received his B.A. from The College of Wooster in Wooster, Ohio in 1959. While in college, Jock studied piano and composition with Professor Daniel W. Winter, who was said to have instilled “the joy of music” in his students, a gift that Jock passed along to his own students.

Jock continued his piano and composition studies at Boston University School of Music, where he earned a Master of Music in 1961. He subsequently enrolled in the Artist Diploma program at New England Conservatory of Music where he studied piano and composition with American composer David Barnett and world-renowned, Franco-American classical pianist Evelyne Crochet. As part of the Artist Diploma curriculum, Jock performed at Jordan Hall in Boston and in 1964 received his Artist Diploma, the highest-level performance designation offered by the Conservatory.

Jock began offering private piano instruction in 1962. He served on the faculty of Longy School of Music from 1963 to 1986. He continued his advanced studies in composition and music theory at the Fontainebleau School of Music outside of Paris where he studied with Jean Casadesus and was a student of the famed composition and harmony professor Nadia Boulanger. Ms. Boulanger was the Director of the School of Music from 1949 through 1979 and worked with numerous well-known composers, including Aaron Copeland and Quincy Jones. She also was the first woman to conduct the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

When he was not teaching or studying, Jock reluctantly performed as a concert pianist. He did not like the limelight, but if asked he would perform at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Jordan Hall, and WGBH. He also served many years as a guest organist at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Boston’s South End.

While music was Jock’s profession, gardening was his hobby from childhood right up to the day he died. He admired the English country garden and tried to create one at his home in Winchester. Jock chose his own plant material and, until very recently, planted, weeded, clipped, watered, and edged the garden himself. Maintaining an English country garden is not easy, but that task gave Jock great pleasure. He loved doing the hard work almost as much as he enjoyed the beauty of his garden.

Jock loved his music and nature and was happy to share his knowledge, skills, and passion with students and others. In short, simple pleasures for a humble man with no pretense and a big heart.

Burial will be private at the Willis family plot in the Oak Grove Cemetery, Medford, MA.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Jock’s memory to the John C. Willis Fund at the Winchester Public Library, 80 Washington Street, Winchester, MA 01890.