Billa Stovall Willis' Obituary
To know Billa, Mother, Grammy was to love her deeply and feel her love and acceptance of who you are. She loved with her full heart unconditionally, and she was so deeply loved in return.
We share with you today a glimpse into a life well lived and well loved.
Billa was born in Hereford, Texas to Julia Blanche (née Sonn) and John Walter Stovall in March 1927. They were a hardworking West Texas cattle ranching family. Billa was the youngest child loved by her parents, her sister Monterey, and their two older brothers, Austin and John. When Billa was four years old, her father John passed away, and their brave single mother decided to move the family to Dallas where she could work to support them. The older boys were more comfortable on a ranch and were soon offered work back in West Texas with the Frank and Edna Miller family. Billa and Monterey would spend many happy years visiting the boys in West Texas. The family loved Aunt Edna and Uncle Frank.
Billa grew into a beautiful, intelligent, gracious young lady and graduated from Adamson High School in Dallas. After World War II ended, a mutual friend, Pat Patton, introduced Billa to the handsome, ambitious veteran, Robert “Bob” Willis. Pat, his wife Jean, Bob, and Billa would remain close friends for the rest of their lives.
Soon after Billa and Bob married in April 1947, they had three beautiful girls: Linda Dianne, Nancy Beth, and Judy Lyn. When Frito-Lay offered Bob an incredible opportunity by way of a promotion, he and the family began a new adventure in North Brunswick, New Jersey. The talented and creative Billa wasted no time in learning all the cultural, educational, and social opportunities available on the East Coast. Billa took her children to every famous museum and historical site between Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C. and Virginia. She took the family to popular Broadway plays in NYC and learned to entertain beautifully. She was well read and kept herself educated on the latest fashions and trends in home decorating and entertaining. Billa was known and respected for her kind heart, willingness to listen and ability to be a good friend. She quickly developed wonderful lifelong friends in New Jersey whom she stayed in touch with throughout her life. Later on, with two children off to college and one in high school, Billa decided to attend the New York School of Interior Design, where she earned her Interior Design Certification.
When Bob was offered a comparable job back in Dallas, the Willis family moved to be with their extended family and friends, and thus began a new phase of life. Billa loved being back home with her mother, her sister Monte and her husband Leo, and Bob's family. Coming back to Dallas also opened new doors for her. Billa’s love of design prompted her to open Billa Interior Design and use her artistic talent not only in her beautiful new home, but for the benefit of friends, family, and new associates. In addition to her work in interior design, she joined the Northwood Women’s Club and even chaired the Annual Charity Ball to raise money for charities in Dallas. When her eldest daughter Dianne moved back to Dallas, they studied our family history, an endeavor which ultimately led to their honored acceptance in the Daughters of the American Revolution. They learned that our family histories on both the Stovall and the Willis sides go back over one hundred years before the 1776 cry for American independence. Mother and Dianne visited many historical sites where the family ancestry took them, including England’s Westminster Abbey, where a famous ancestor is buried inside the church. Billa always served her family in the most wholehearted way. When Bob started their cattle adventure with her brother John, Billa entertained in Milford and embraced the cattle ranching life with her characteristic style and love for her family. Whenever the Dallas Cowboys played, Billa was entertaining and cheering for “her boys” (and, in her later years, proudly wearing her famously bedazzled Tony Romo jersey).
When her daughter Nancy Beth married Dimitrios Angelo Horiates, his two sons, Christopher Dimitrios and Andrew Dimitrios, were wholeheartedly embraced by Billa and Bob; her relationship with the boys brought her great joy – and three beautiful great-grandchildren! Christopher and his wife Carrie (née Kendrick) had two sons, Alexander Luke and Anthony James, and Andrew and his wife Alexis (née Best) had their daughter Sophia Elinor. When Nancy and Dimitrios had Marina Juliane and Nectarios Robert, Mother always helped in every way possible, bringing unconditional love and joy into their sweet young lives. She came to every celebration, dance recital, theater production, football game, soccer game, and graduation; she was an ardent supporter in everything they did. Her compassion, love, and generosity knew no bounds with her family, and all the children loved their Grammy enthusiastically.
After the 1998 passing of Bob, her husband of 51 years, Billa would eventually find a growing love for travel, and we all took wonderful adventures together. Mother joined a travel club with the Northwood Women’s Club and took her daughters on many adventures with the group. When Marina and Nectarios were a bit older, she decided to take the family to Greece to learn about their Horiates heritage; all seven of us have wonderful memories of our journey across the antiquities and the beautiful blue Mediterranean Sea. We all traveled again to England, Austria and Germany on another grand adventure several years later. Seeing the world with her is a memory that will never fade in our lives.
Mother was known for being a wonderful friend, whether it was in her very close relationships with her sister Monte, her-sister in-laws, her nieces, or with the women in Women’s Club, the DAR, the friends in New Jersey, or the famous FAB Five Women in Dallas with long time friends Jennifer and Larry Tucker. Mother was a true friend in fun and in times of need. She was there, you could count on her. She is a role model of a good Samaritan. You were blessed to have her in your corner!
In her final years, Billa was blessed with the loving care of her family, especially from her daughter Judy, who came to live with her so that she could comfortably spend her remaining years in her home. She was able to make it to so many of life’s momentous occasions including the weddings of all four Horiates children: Marina’s wedding to Daniel Matthew Kerekes, Nectarios’s wedding to Grace Odessa Tompkins (and Gracie’s baptism!), Christopher's wedding to Carrie (and the birth of their two wonderful boys, Alexander and Anthony), and Andrew’s wedding to Alexis (and the birth of their beautiful daughter Sophia). On a more somber note, she also gracefully bore the heartbreak of losing her eldest daughter, Linda Dianne, in May of 2023; she was comforted with the knowledge that she was able to be there for the full course of her daughter’s illness, holding her hand through the very end.
In her final days, Billa was beautiful and gracious as ever. It was wonderful to see her enjoy seeing everyone one last time, both family and friends who all respected and loved her deeply. Her greatest joy was to look over at all of us with the deep conviction that all was well with her family. In her final moments, she was with us all in her home, and she rested in peace knowing her prayers had been answered. She fell asleep in the arms of the Lord in the early morning of Friday, December 6th, 2024, and she has been reunited with her husband, her daughter, her sister and brothers, and all the beautiful souls she loved who went before her.
What’s your fondest memory of Billa?
What’s a lesson you learned from Billa?
Share a story where Billa's kindness touched your heart.
Describe a day with Billa you’ll never forget.
How did Billa make you smile?
