Billie Stanley

Billie Stanley, 87, of Pelahatchie, passed away peacefully at her residence from this life to her eternal home in heaven on January 5, 2022. She was a loving mother, wife, sister, daughter, grandmother, great grandmother, and friend. She was a member of Pelahatchie Methodist Church.

Visitation is Friday, January 7, 2022 from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm at Ott and Lee in Brandon. Funeral will be held in the chapel at 9:30 am on Saturday, January 8. Burial will follow at Floral Hills in Pearl.  Reverend Beth Feisel will officiate. Pallbearers are her grandsons, Blake Stanley, Dylan Stanley, and Jeremy Phillips, and her nephews, Anthony Grayson, Doug Blakeney, and Steve Blakeney.

Billie was born October 1, 1934, in Smith County to Summerfield and Onnie Blakeney, the oldest of three children. She graduated from Raleigh High School and then moved to Jackson. She worked for the telephone company for over 10 years before moving to Pelahatchie. She was a homemaker for many of the years while her children were young. She started working as a reading assistant at Pelahatchie Elementary when her first grandchild started school and remained there until she was 77.

Billie was brought up to work hard and it was evident in her freezers full of vegetables and the big meals that she cooked. She enjoyed fishing and spent many hours on Eagle Lake and at their private pond. She also loved to read. After retirement, her poor eyesight made it difficult to read but she immensely enjoyed listening to her books on tape during her last years. She loved to laugh and make others laugh. She never lost her sense of humor, even through the pain of several injuries and illnesses.

She was fiercely devoted to her family and took joy in helping anyone in need. She made friends for life and kept in touch with them. Her doors were always open; in addition to her own children, she also provided a home for one of her granddaughters, one of her grandsons, and for the last two years, her great grandson.

In addition to her parents, she is preceded in death by her husband, Billy Ray Stanley. She is survived by her children, Sheryl Phillips and husband, Roger, of Silver Creek, Donna Knight and husband, Randy, of Pelahatchie, and Tim Stanley of Pelahatchie, sister Bobbie Grayson of Raleigh and brother Paul Blakeney and wife Audrey of Brandon. She also leaves behind 7 grandchildren, 11 great grandchildren and one on the way, many nieces, nephews, and friends.