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Draft:John Herman Willingham

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  • Comment: Vague and superficial analysis such as The 1991 Cleveland victory was reported by The Plain Dealer, an out-of-market newspaper, reflecting his recognition beyond the regional barbecue circuit is characteristic of LLM usage. Helpful Raccoon (talk) 01:59, 16 June 2026 (UTC)


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 barbecue competitor, inventor, restaurateur, and politician from Memphis, Tennessee. He won the Memphis in May World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest in 1983 and 1984,[1] and the American Royal Barbecue Grand Championship in 1984 and 1991.[2][3]

Willingham developed barbecue equipment and other patented products, including the W'ham Turbo Cooker. He served as a Shelby County Commissioner from 2002 to 2006, ran twice for mayor of Memphis, and was inducted into the American Royal Barbecue Hall of Fame as a Legacy Inductee in 2012.[4]

Early life and education

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John Herman Willingham was born on May 19, 1932, in Bevier, Missouri.[5] He attended the University of Missouri on a football and baseball scholarship.[5] The Missouri baseball team finished second at the College World Series in 1952, with Willingham on the roster.[6] He signed a pitching contract with the St. Louis Cardinals organization,[7] but was inducted into the United States Army in 1953 for service in the Korean War before completing his degree. A wrist injury during his military service ended his baseball career.[5] He married Marjorie Yock. They had three daughters: Kristi, Karla, and Kara.[8]

Inventions and business

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After his military service, Willingham worked in the construction industry. He spent five years in the precast-concrete construction business in Little Rock, Arkansas, with former Arkansas governor Winthrop Rockefeller,[9] and later served about three years in the Nixon administration as Director of Technical Evaluation of Industrialized Housing.[10] By 1985, after two heart attacks, he was working full-time in barbecue.[11]

Willingham was named on at least 17 U.S. patents.[10] His earliest known patent, U.S. Patent No. 2,989,215, was issued in 1961 for a material dispenser. Later patents covered prefabricated construction methods, industrial cranes, and portable concrete molding equipment.[12] U.S. Patent No. 4,590,848, issued on May 27, 1986, described an indirect-heat cooker. The cooker was marketed as the W'ham Turbo Cooker and was promoted as a way to reduce carcinogens produced during cooking.[13][14] The original W'ham Turbo Cooker is held at the American Royal Barbecue Hall of Fame Museum in Kansas City.[15]

In November 2011, Willingham filed an application for a hydroelectric paddlewheel system for high-flow rivers. The application cited the Mississippi River at Memphis as a possible use. 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 developed for his wife Marjorie's migraine headaches and later purchased by Muhammad Ali;[13] a nasal spray bottle design; and the W'ham T prefabricated construction method used in commercial building projects.[8]

Willingham opened his first restaurant in Collierville, Tennessee, in 1978. A Memphis location on American Way operated from 1980 to 1987. By 2001 the brand operated about a dozen locations.[18] A fire destroyed the Brookhaven Circle location on August 2, 2001, and the brand relocated to a building on Perkins Road in the Parkway Village neighborhood.[18] He founded Whamco, Inc. to manufacture and distribute Willingham's dry rubs, marinades, and sauces.[19]

Barbecue career

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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 Grand Championship in 1983, placing first in ribs,[1][20] and again in 1984.[1] A 1988 profile in The Commercial Appeal described Willingham as a "barbecue impresario."[21]

The River City Rooters won the American Royal Grand Championship in 1984, the same year as their Memphis in May title,[2] and again in 1991.[3]

In 1990 and 1991, Willingham won the Cleveland National Rib Cook-Off "Best Ribs in America" prize, earning a $25,000 prize each time.[22]

Willingham competed at Memphis in May for 30 consecutive years. He won awards in ribs, people's choice, and best cooker.[23] In 2012, he received the Grand Poo Bah Award from Memphis in May.[1]

Nathan Myhrvold, co-founder of Modernist Cuisine, competed on Willingham's River City Rooters team.[8] In 1999, the television program Cook-Off America featured the Memphis in May contest and highlighted Willingham.[24]

Cookbook

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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).[25] The Commercial Appeal reviewed the book as a guide from a "construction manager turned competition champion."[11] The book also received reviews in The Sun News[26] and the Arizona Daily Sun,[27] and was mentioned in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch's coverage of the American Royal.[28]

Public service

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Willingham was elected Shelby County Commissioner in 2002 and served one term through 2006.[29] He did not seek re-election in 2006 and instead focused on a mayoral campaign.[30] He had run for Mayor of Memphis in 2003, losing to incumbent Willie Herenton, and filed suit in Chancery Court to contest the results.[10] He ran for mayor again in 2007.[31]

Recognition

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Willingham was inducted into the National Barbecue Hall of Fame.[32] After the American Royal acquired the Hall of Fame in 2012, he was listed as a Legacy Inductee. Other inductees included Henry Ford, Johnny Trigg, and Guy Fieri.[4]

Death

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Willingham died on May 15, 2013, at St. Francis Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, of heart failure. He was 80 years old.[31] He died on the opening day of that year's Memphis in May World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest.[23] On the same day, Don Pelts, founder of Corky's Barbecue in Memphis, also died. At the Saturday night awards ceremony, an audience of about 10,000 people observed a minute of silence in tribute to both men.[23]

Willingham donated his body to science for medical research.[13] He was survived by his wife, Marjorie Yock Willingham, and three daughters.

Legacy

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Whamco, Inc. continued selling Willingham's products after his death.[19] The original W'ham Turbo Cooker is held by the American Royal Barbecue Hall of Fame Museum in Kansas City.[15]

Willingham met Muhammad Ali in May 1983 at Ali's home in Los Angeles. In October 1983, Ali and his manager Herbert Muhammad visited Willingham's Collierville restaurant and discussed opening joint restaurants in Memphis and Los Angeles. Ali encouraged Willingham to defend his Memphis in May title.[33] Ali later purchased the Harmonic Stress Reducer.[13]

References

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  1. 1 2 3 4 "Memphis in May Winners". Memphis in May. 23 September 2025. Retrieved April 20, 2026.
  2. 1 2 Dawson, Diana (November 4, 1984). "Where there's smoke, there's hot barbecue". The Kansas City Star. Kansas City, Missouri. p. 65 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. 1 2 "Memphis barbecue wins". The Kansas City Star. Kansas City, Missouri. October 7, 1991. p. 46 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. 1 2 "Past BBQ Hall of Fame Inductees". American Royal. Retrieved April 20, 2026.
  5. 1 2 3 "John Willingham Obituary". The Commercial Appeal. Retrieved April 20, 2026 – via Legacy.com.
  6. ↑ "Profile of John Willingham". The Commercial Appeal. July 16, 2006.
  7. ↑ "John Willingham". Baseball Reference. Retrieved April 20, 2026.
  8. 1 2 3 "Smoked Dry-Rub Pork Ribs". Modernist Cuisine. Retrieved April 20, 2026.
  9. ↑ "Restaurant owner can blame himself if meat isn't cooked properly". The Memphis Press-Scimitar. January 4, 1983. p. 4.
  10. 1 2 3 "Remembering John Willingham". Smart City Memphis. May 2013. Retrieved April 20, 2026.
  11. 1 2 Gang, Christine Arpe (August 7, 1996). "Cookbook review". The Commercial Appeal.
  12. ↑ "John H. Willingham Patents". Justia Patents. Retrieved April 20, 2026.
  13. 1 2 3 4 Lollar, Michael (May 16, 2013). "John Willingham was more than a barbecue champion". The Commercial Appeal.
  14. ↑ US 4590848, John H. Willingham, "Indirect heat cooker", published 1986-05-27
  15. 1 2 "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.
  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. 1 2 Lepeska, Toni (December 13, 2001). "Willingham's BBQ opens new Memphis location". The Commercial Appeal.
  19. 1 2 "Award Winning BBQ History". Willingham's BBQ Products. Retrieved April 20, 2026.
  20. ↑ "Masters of the pits share technique, tips". The Memphis Press-Scimitar. Memphis, Tennessee. June 29, 1983. p. 19 – via Newspapers.com.
  21. ↑ Gang, Christine Arpe (August 31, 1988). "Willingham barbecue profile". The Commercial Appeal.
  22. ↑ Vishnevsky, Zina (May 27, 1991). "Memphis chef wins rib fest". The Plain Dealer. Cleveland.
  23. 1 2 3 "Memphis Mourns Loss of Two BBQ Legends". Action News 5. May 2013. Retrieved April 20, 2026.
  24. ↑ "Cook-Off America to feature Memphis in May". The Commercial Appeal. May 8, 1999.
  25. ↑ Willingham, John (1996). John Willingham's World Champion Bar-B-Q. William Morrow. ISBN 978-0-688-13287-3.
  26. ↑ Tait, Elaine (July 31, 1996). "Barbecue craze". The Sun News. Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. p. 33 – via Newspapers.com.
  27. ↑ Calta, Marialisa (July 21, 1996). "Secrets from a barbecue champ". Arizona Daily Sun. Flagstaff, Arizona. p. 8 – via Newspapers.com.
  28. ↑ "Barbecue heaven". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. St. Louis, Missouri. July 12, 1999. p. 226 – via Newspapers.com.
  29. ↑ "Former County Commissioner John Willingham Dies". WREG Memphis. Retrieved April 20, 2026.
  30. ↑ "County Commission will be majority 'new'". The Commercial Appeal. April 2, 2006.
  31. 1 2 "John Willingham, Barbecue Maven and All-Around Achiever, Dies at 80". Memphis Flyer. May 15, 2013. Retrieved April 20, 2026.
  32. ↑ "Food Notes". The Oregonian. Portland, Oregon. May 5, 2009. p. 43 – via Newspapers.com.
  33. ↑ Hardy, Greg (October 29, 1983). "Ali receives hero's hello at Ridgeway". The Commercial Appeal.
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