Billie Jo Willis' Obituary
Billie Jo Termin was born in Dallas, Texas, on April 16, 1932, during the Great Depression. She grew up in a close-knit, loving and generous family known to share meals with hobos traveling along the Sante Fe Railway that ran behind her childhood home. She graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School after the family moved to Goliad Ave. in East Dallas. She then attended North Texas State College as a P.E. major until taking a job as a secretary in a legal office.
Billie married Ben Edward Willis on May 8, 1954, at Central Congregational Church in East Dallas. From 1954 to 1968, Ben’s work as a geophysicist specializing in onsite oil exploration took Billie and their growing family throughout Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Mississippi, with a very brief stint in Kankakee, Illinois. In 1968, Ben joined an independent oil company in Dallas, and they purchased the house on Lanshire in Lake Highlands that Billie lived in for – 56 years!
Billie was always the biggest fan of her sons, grandkids, and great-grandkids, whether it was sports, music, dance, or whatever else they were active in. That fandom eventually expanded to almost any sport she could see on TV–especially if it related to one of Dallas's professional teams. Besides family, her two passions were church and service (which in her soul were all the same!).
After returning to Dallas in 1968, the Willis family joined Billie’s home church, Central Congregational Church UCC. There, she served in almost every capacity other than Minister.
Her major non-church service outlet was the Women’s Auxiliary at Parkland Hospital. Her favorite work was in the Gift Shop, where she eventually became a staff member. In the gift shop, she could be a surrogate Mom, helping folks celebrate births and other good news, or helping them grieve, cope, and hope. Billie became “Meme” when grandchildren started coming in the 1980s and “Great-Meme” when great-grandchildren came along.
Billie was predeceased by her beloved husband, Ben Edward Willis, her parents, Frank and Lenora “Teedy” Termin; her sister and brother-in-law, Nettie Lee and Richard Fremming, her father and mother-in-law, Benjamin Duke and Sarah Willis; her brother-in-law Gerald Willis; and step-brothers-in-law John Bennett and Kenneth Wardell.
She is survived by her two sons and daughters-in-law: Russell Edward and Dawn Orlean (Olmstead) Willis and Douglas Alan and Mary Elizabeth (Noble) Willis; five grandchildren: Mary Kristine Willis, Elizabeth LeeAnn (and husband James) Stepaniuk, Katherine Dawn Willis, David Alan (and wife Ginny) Willis, and Benjamin Edward (and wife Helen) Willis; seven great-grandchildren: Kristi’s daughters – Alicia and Emilie, LeeAnn and James’s daughters – Nora, Clara Jo, and Hannah, and David and Ginny’s sons – Powell and Samuel; Niece, Patricia (and husband Charlie) Harmon; Sister-in-law, Vicky Willis (and her daughters Cheryl and Lori); stepsisters Mary Beth Bennett (and daughter Becky) and Katherine Wardel (and daughter Sarah Francis).
Family will receive friends beginning at 12:00 Noon on Wednesday, June 26, 2024, at the Central Congregational Church, 5600 Royal Lane, Dallas, Texas. A funeral service will commence at 1:00PM in the Sanctuary. Following a brief time of reception, interment will follow in the Grove Hill Memorial Park.
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