Willard Custer's grandfather was John Custer (1819-1901). Born in Berkeley County, Virginia (which later became part of West Virginia), John was a saddler (i.e., leather-worker) and a landowner.

John died in 1901, having lived approximately 82 years and fathering 15 children. Family tradition has held that he was related to the famed Civil War general and Indian fighter George Armstrong Custer (right).

John's youngest son, Clemm, Willard's father, was a blacksmith. He was living in Warfordsburg, Pennsylvania, not far from his West Virginia roots, when Willard was born. Clemm married Florence May Byrd (born April 2, 1872, died 1915) on October 20, 1896.

Florence's first child was a son, Cecil E., born December 1897. Willard was her second-born, coming into the world on June 6, 1899. Painfully, the new century would not treat well the rest of Florence's children:

All five infants were buried "back home" in Greenway Cemetery in Berkeley Springs, West Virginia. In 1915, their mother lay down beside them. Clemm did not die until 1951.

Willard married Lula E. Jackson. Lula bore four children: Harold "Curley", Vivian (married name, Foltz), Helen (married name, Bock), and Kenneth "Reed". They resided in Hagerstown, Maryland. Curley would become famous along the Eastern seaboard as a square dance caller and was Willard's test pilot. He has logged more hours flying the Channel Wing than any other man alive. Helen would be Willard's secretary until he died, and Reed would be Willard's chief mechanic at least until the 1960s. Willard's older brother Cecil supported him in his Channel Wing effort.

Early Christmas morning 1985, Willard Custer died of old age at his home in Hagerstown, Maryland. Click here to read his obituary. He preceded his wife in death and was buried in Hagerstown's Rest Haven Cemetery.