Willard Park, shown here in 1897 not long after the park was developed, was one of several gifts bestowed upon Battle Creek by Charles Willard, for whom Willard Library also is named. Enquirer and News columnist Amy South wrote on April 13, 1975, that Willard was a farmer who lacked a college education but loved reading and had "a great admiration for brainy women." Before his death on Jan. 31, 1897, at age 69, Willard deeded 16 acres of oak woods bordering Goguac lake to the city. In his will, he left $20,000 to the city for public parks. Willard also left $37,500 for a library building, $36,500 for a YMCA, $30,000 to hire professors of Latin and literature at Kalamazoo College, $40,000 to the Michigan Baptist Association and another $40,000 for a scholarship fund for poor students of Michigan.