Willard Carey: Founder, Mentor, Leader

By Emily Andrews 

A life of military service and a legacy of giving began with teammates who stood together in defeat, agreeing to enlist en masse if they lost one more game. 

In the fall of 1948, the entire EOSC football team capped their losing season with a march downtown to join the National Guard. Among them was Willard “Bill” Carey, ’49, who would go on to serve as the youngest federally recognized brigadier general in the Army National Guard of the United States. 

Carey earned his associate degree at EOU and transferred to the University of Oregon, where he was student body president and president of Phi Kappa Psi. From there, he earned a law degree from Willamette University. 

In 1959, he married the love of his life, Audrey, and they set up a life and a law practice in La Grande, eventually with three children. Toward the beginning of his law career, Carey started the EOU Foundation and continued to contribute to the university until his passing in May 2001.   

“He wanted young men and women to have the kind of opportunity that he had.” – Audrey Carey

“Coming back to his own community, he recognized the need for a fundraising source for the college, so he formed the Eastern Oregon Advancement Association,” Audrey said. “He’d go out and raise money among the business people in Eastern Oregon to fund this committee, which then became, under his leadership, the [EOU] Foundation.” 

When Carey took an assignment at the Presidio in San Francisco, he commuted from his La Grande Law office and was the Deputy Commanding General for Reserve Components, Sixth US Army, which covered the 13 Western States. During this time, Carey was responsible for over 100,000 people, his wife said. 

“It was just the most wonderful experience,” Audrey said. “I got to watch him go from Captain and La Grande Company Commander all the way to Major General.” 

Carey was the first President of the EOU Foundation and served on the board for 24 years. In 1982, he was awarded the Distinguished Alumnus Award and was twice recognized with the Jaycees Distinguished Services Award in addition to being named Man of the Year by the Chamber of Commerce in 1966 and 1986. His wife remembers Carey teaching a business class at the college as well. 

When he retired from the military in 1987, Carey’s troops gifted him with their personal funds to start the “Major General Willard Carey Scholarship” and he continued to put his money into it, too. At the time of his death, Carey’s family directed donations in his honor to expand the scholarship even further.  

“He had a close attachment to Eastern and that’s why the scholarship became [what it did],” Audrey said. “He wanted young men and women to have the kind of opportunity that he had. It was becoming more financially difficult for people to go to college and so it was really important to him that there was this scholarship. He wanted it to go to people who were going to have a military career, as well a college education.” 

The scholarship provides up to $2,500 annually, and has allowed students to access higher education since 1989. To qualify for the annual scholarship, students must be part of the GOLD program, which aims to strengthen the officer candidate program at EOU while providing training exercises and trips to historical military sites across the country. 

Audrey Carey has received many letters of thanks from student recipients over the years, and she treasures their words of gratitude. One excerpt reads: 

“I look forward to the day I am also able to give back to young soldiers like myself and continue the tradition of loyalty, duty, respect, selfless service, honor, integrity, and personal courage throughout our armed forces community. I promise you, personally, I will continue to work hard and become an exemplary model for others to follow.”