Draft:John Herman Willingham

John Willingham
Willingham at Memphis in May, 2012
Born
John Herman Willingham

(1932-05-19)May 19, 1932
Bevier, Missouri, U.S.
DiedMay 15, 2013(2013-05-15) (aged 80)
Memphis, Tennessee, U.S.
EducationUniversity of Missouri
OccupationsInventor, barbecue competitor, restaurateur
Known forW'ham Turbo Cooker; Memphis in May Barbecue Championship
SpouseMarjorie Yock
Children3

John Herman Willingham (May 19, 1932 – May 15, 2013) was an American inventor, barbecue competitor, restaurateur, and public servant from Memphis, Tennessee. He won the Memphis in May World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest as Overall World's Barbecue Grand Champion in 1983 and 1984,[1] and won the Cleveland National Rib Cook-Off "Best Ribs in America" prize for two consecutive years, in 1990 and 1991.[2] He also won the American Royal BBQ Grand Championship in 1984, 1991, and 1994, and competed at the Memphis in May World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest for 30 consecutive years.[3][4]

A former professional baseball prospect with the St. Louis Cardinals organization, Willingham held 17 patents spanning barbecue equipment, prefabricated construction, and consumer products.[5] His W'ham Turbo Cooker, patented in 1986, is held at the American Royal Barbecue Hall of Fame Museum in Kansas City.[6] He served as a Shelby County Commissioner from 2002 to 2006, ran twice for Memphis Mayor, and was inducted into the American Royal Barbecue Hall of Fame as a Legacy Inductee in 2012.[7]

Early life and education

John Herman Willingham was born on May 19, 1932, in Bevier, Missouri.[8] He attended the University of Missouri, where he received a full athletic scholarship for both football and baseball.[8] The Missouri baseball team finished second at the College World Series in 1952, with Willingham on the roster.[9] He signed a professional pitching contract with the St. Louis Cardinals organization,[10] but was inducted into the United States Army in 1953 for service in the Korean War before completing his degree. A wrist injury sustained during his military service ended his baseball career.[8] He married Marjorie Yock, with whom he had three daughters: Kristi, Karla, and Kara.[11]

Inventions and business

After his military service, Willingham worked in the construction industry, eventually serving approximately three years in the Nixon administration as Director of Technical Evaluation of Industrialized Housing, a role connected to work with Winthrop Rockefeller.[5][9] By 1985, following two heart attacks, he had refocused his career entirely on barbecue.[12]

Willingham held at least 17 patents spanning more than four decades.[5] His earliest known patent, U.S. Patent No. 2,989,215 (a material dispenser), was issued in 1961. He subsequently developed patents in prefabricated construction methods, industrial cranes, and portable concrete molding equipment.[13] U.S. Patent No. 4,590,848, an indirect-heat cooker issued on May 27, 1986, formed the basis of the W'ham® Turbo Cooker, which was specifically designed to reduce carcinogens produced during cooking.[14][15] The original W'ham Turbo Cooker is held at the American Royal Barbecue Hall of Fame Museum in Kansas City.[6]

Willingham's inventive work continued into his final years. In November 2011, he filed an application for a hydroelectric paddlewheel system designed for high-flow rivers, with the Mississippi River at Memphis cited as a primary use case. The first patent in the family, U.S. Patent No. 8,772,957, was granted on July 8, 2014, fourteen months after his death.[16] A continuation patent, U.S. Patent No. 9,228,560, was granted on January 5, 2016.[17] Both patents were assigned to Power Flo LLC.

His other inventions included the Harmonic Stress Reducer, a therapeutic device originally developed to treat his wife Marjorie's migraine headaches and later purchased by Muhammad Ali;[14] a nasal spray bottle design; and the W'ham T prefabricated construction method used in commercial building projects.[11]

Willingham opened his first restaurant in Collierville, Tennessee, in 1978. A Memphis location on American Way operated from 1980 to 1987, and by 2001, the brand encompassed approximately a dozen locations.[3] A fire destroyed the Brookhaven Circle location on August 2, 2001; the brand subsequently relocated to a building on Perkins Road in the Parkway Village neighborhood.[3] He founded Whamco, Inc. to manufacture and distribute Willingham's branded dry rubs, marinades, and sauces.[18]

Barbecue career

Willingham and his team, the River City Rooters, began competing at the Memphis in May World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest in 1981, placing second in the ribs category. They won the Overall World's Barbecue Grand Championship in 1983, placing first in ribs,[1][19] and again in 1984.[1] A 1988 Commercial Appeal feature described Willingham as a "barbecue impresario" and documented both championships in regional print.[20]

The River City Rooters also won the American Royal BBQ Grand Championship in 1984 — making them, according to contemporaneous accounts, the only team at that time to have won both major championships in the same calendar year.[19] Willingham returned to win the American Royal Grand Championship in 1991 and again in 1994.[3]

In 1990 and 1991, Willingham won the Cleveland National Rib Cook-Off "Best Ribs in America" prize for two consecutive years, earning a $25,000 prize each time. He also recorded competition wins in Kansas City and Richmond, Virginia, during the same period.[2] The 1991 Cleveland victory was reported by The Plain Dealer, an out-of-market newspaper, reflecting his recognition beyond the regional barbecue circuit.

Willingham competed at Memphis in May for 30 consecutive years, accumulating more than a dozen awards across categories, including ribs, people's choice, and best cooker.[4] Memphis in May organizers described him as "the most acclaimed barbecue chef in the world."[18] In 2012, he received the Grand Poo Bah Award from Memphis in May, the event's highest honorary distinction.[1]

Nathan Myhrvold, co-founder of Modernist Cuisine, competed as a member of Willingham's River City Rooters team.[11] In 1999, the television program Cook-Off America featured the Memphis in May contest and highlighted Willingham.[21]

Cookbook

In 1996, William Morrow and Company published John Willingham's World Champion Bar-B-Q: Over 150 Recipes and Tall Tales for Authentic, Braggin' Rights, Real Southern Bar-B-Q, and All the Fixin's (ISBN 978-0-688-13287-3).[22] The book was reviewed in The Commercial Appeal as a guide from a "construction manager turned competition champion."[12] It combined competition recipes with narrative accounts of the competitive barbecue circuit.

Public service

Willingham was elected Shelby County Commissioner in 2002 and served one full term through 2006.[23] He did not seek re-election to his Commission seat in 2006, instead focusing on a subsequent mayoral campaign.[24] He had previously run for Mayor of Memphis in 2003, losing to incumbent Willie Herenton, and subsequently filed suit in Chancery Court to contest the results.[5] He ran for mayor again in 2007.[25]

Recognition

Willingham was a founding inductee of the National Barbecue Hall of Fame. In 2012, when the American Royal acquired the institution, he was carried over as a Legacy Inductee into the American Royal Barbecue Hall of Fame, alongside inductees including Henry Ford, Johnny Trigg, and Guy Fieri.[7][26]

Death

Willingham died on May 15, 2013, at St. Francis Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, of heart failure. He was 80 years old.[25] His death occurred on the opening day of the Memphis in May World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest, an event at which he had competed for 30 consecutive years.[4] On the same day, Don Pelts, founder of Corky's Barbecue in Memphis, also died. At the Saturday night awards ceremony, an audience of approximately 10,000 people observed a minute-long silence in tribute to both men.[4]

He donated his body to science for medical research.[14] He was survived by his wife, Marjorie Yock Willingham, and three daughters. Marjorie Willingham died on March 24, 2026.

Legacy

The Willingham's BBQ product line continued to be manufactured and sold by Whamco, Inc. following Willingham's death.[18] The original W'ham Turbo Cooker (U.S. Patent No. 4,590,848) is held by the American Royal Barbecue Hall of Fame Museum in Kansas City.[6]

In May 1983, following his first Memphis in May Grand Championship, Willingham met Muhammad Ali at Ali's home in Los Angeles. In October 1983, Ali and his manager, Herbert Muhammad, visited Willingham's Collierville restaurant as part of discussions about opening restaurants together in Memphis and Los Angeles. During the visit, Ali publicly affirmed that Willingham should defend his Memphis in May Grand Champion title.[27] Ali later purchased Willingham's Harmonic Stress Reducer device.[14]

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Memphis in May Winners". Memphis in May. 23 September 2025. Retrieved April 20, 2026.
  2. ^ a b Vishnevsky, Zina (May 27, 1991). "Memphis chef wins rib fest". The Plain Dealer. Cleveland.
  3. ^ a b c d Lepeska, Toni (December 13, 2001). "Willingham's BBQ opens new Memphis location". The Commercial Appeal.
  4. ^ a b c d "Memphis Mourns Loss of Two BBQ Legends". Action News 5. May 2013. Retrieved April 20, 2026.
  5. ^ a b c d "Remembering John Willingham". Smart City Memphis. May 2013. Retrieved April 20, 2026.
  6. ^ a b c "An Unexpected Journey: Willingham's Original Cooker To Arrive At The American Royal Barbecue Hall Of Fame Museum". The Bullsheet. Kansas City Barbeque Society. October 2015.
  7. ^ a b "American Royal Announces Inductees for Barbecue Hall of Fame". PRWeb. 2012.
  8. ^ a b c "John Willingham Obituary". The Commercial Appeal. Retrieved April 20, 2026 – via Legacy.com.
  9. ^ a b "[County Commissioner profile]". The Commercial Appeal. July 16, 2006.
  10. ^ "John Willingham". Baseball Reference. Retrieved April 20, 2026.
  11. ^ a b c "Smoked Dry-Rub Pork Ribs". Modernist Cuisine. Retrieved April 20, 2026.
  12. ^ a b Gang, Christine Arpe (August 7, 1996). "[Cookbook review]". The Commercial Appeal.
  13. ^ "John H. Willingham Patents". Justia Patents. Retrieved April 20, 2026.
  14. ^ a b c d Lollar, Michael (May 16, 2013). "John Willingham was more than a barbecue champion". The Commercial Appeal.
  15. ^ US 4590848, John H. Willingham, "Indirect heat cooker", published 1986-05-27 
  16. ^ US 8772957, John H. Willingham, "Power generating floating vessel", published 2014-07-08 
  17. ^ US 9228560, John H. Willingham, "Power generating floating vessel", published 2016-01-05 
  18. ^ a b c "Award Winning BBQ History". Willingham's BBQ Products. Retrieved April 20, 2026.
  19. ^ a b "Memphis In May 2013". Slap Yo' Daddy BBQ. May 2013. Retrieved April 20, 2026.
  20. ^ Gang, Christine Arpe (August 31, 1988). "[Barbecue profile]". The Commercial Appeal.
  21. ^ "[Cook-Off America TV program]". The Commercial Appeal. May 8, 1999.
  22. ^ Willingham, John (1996). John Willingham's World Champion Bar-B-Q. William Morrow. ISBN 978-0-688-13287-3.
  23. ^ "Former County Commissioner John Willingham Dies". WREG Memphis. Retrieved April 20, 2026.
  24. ^ "County Commission will be majority 'new'". The Commercial Appeal. April 2, 2006.
  25. ^ a b "John Willingham, Barbecue Maven and All-Around Achiever, Dies at 80". Memphis Flyer. May 15, 2013. Retrieved April 20, 2026.
  26. ^ "Past BBQ Hall of Fame Inductees". American Royal. Retrieved April 20, 2026.
  27. ^ Hardy, Greg (October 29, 1983). "Ali receives hero's hello at Ridgeway". The Commercial Appeal.

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