Born in Collin, Mississippi in 1939, lived in Collin, Mississippi until six years old. Originally moved to Las Vegas in 1949 when he was six years old. Willard worked at the Sands Hotel and Casino as a dishwasher, at the Thunderbird Hotel and Casino as a porter, and as a construction worker for the city of Las Vegas before working as a youth leader for the Second Baptist Church.

Billie Grace Milton was an executive housekeeper at the Thunderbird hotel in 1955.