Willis P. Whichard was born in Durham, N.C., on May 24, 1940. He was educated in the
Durham City schools and at the University of North Carolina (A.B., J.D.) and the
University of Virginia (LL.M., S.J.D.).
He began his professional career as law clerk to Justice (later Chief Justice) William H. Bobbitt of the North Carolina Supreme Court (1965-66), and was a practicing attorney with the Durham law firm of Powe, Porter, Alphin and Whichard from 1966-80. In 1980 he was appointed, and later elected, as a judge of the North Carolina Court of Appeals, where he served until 1986. He became an Associate Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court in 1986 and continues to serve in that capacity.
Justice Whichard served in the North Carolina House of Representatives from 1970-74 and in the North Carolina Senate from 1974-80. He is the only person in the history of North Carolina who has served in both houses of the state legislature and on both of the state's appellate courts. As a legislator and as a jurist, he has served on and chaired numerous committees and commissions. He is the author of several articles and addresses published in legal, historical and governmental publications.
Whichard married the former Leona Paschal of Siler City, N.C., on June 4, 1961. They have two children, Jennifer W. Ritz of Durham, an employee of the Principals' Executive Program at UNC - Chapel Hill, and Ida Silkenat of Durham, a student at Duke University.