Kathy Louise Billingsley

Kathy Louise Billingsley was born on September 19, 1952 and passed away on January 6, 2005, after a long and courageous battle with brain cancer, slipping away peacefully and painlessly with her daughters and several good friends at her side. Kathy was born in Ponca City, Oklahoma and grew up in neighboring Tonkawa. She attended public school in Tonkawa, and graduated from Tonkawa High School in 1970. After receiving her Associate degree from hometown Northern Oklahoma College in 1972, she enrolled at Central State University (now the University of Central Oklahoma), graduating in 1974 with a Bachelors degree in Marketing. She worked for a short time as a sales representative for Burroughs Corporation, and then began a long and rewarding career in education. She received her Masters degree in Reading and Curriculum from the University of Texas at El Paso in 1979. She held various teaching positions in Oklahoma, Texas, Colorado and in the Department of Defense school system in Korea before beginning at the Texas Education Agency in 1989. She served as Executive Assistant to five consecutive TEA commissioners, and was remembered by all as a valued member of the TEA executive team. Kathy was devoted to her children, and served in various capacities on parent committees in the Eanes Independent School District. She coached the kickball team, attended every swim meet, and was the proud mother in the front row of every school and church event that involved her girls. Her house became a home for a constant stream of teenagers who knew they could count on her love and support. She was passionate in her support of public education, and will be remembered by all as playing a vital part in the shaping of educational policy in Texas. Preceded in death by her mother, Ruth Ann McKee of Tonkawa, Ok, she is survived by daughters Jenni and Lauren, both of Austin; her father, Clark McKee of Tonkawa; a sister Susan McKee of Oklahoma City; a sister Lori Beth Gross and her husband Lanc of Oklahoma City; a sister Mary Jane Jacobs and her husband Fred of El Dorado, Oklahoma; three nephews and other family and friends too numerous to mention. She touched many lives, and will be missed by all. Visitation will be at Weed Corley-Fish Funeral Home, 3125 N. Lamar, from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM on Friday, January 7, with the funeral in the Fellowship Hall of Riverbend Church at 3:00 PM on Saturday, January 8. Serving as pallbearers are Grant Billingsley, Gary Beahm, Matthew Beahm, Danay Covert, David Anderson and Cade Hudson. Honorary pallbearers are Skip Meno, Mike Moses, Jim Nelson, Shirley Neeley, Joe Neely, Robert Scott and Todd Webster. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the Kathy Billingsley Memorial Fund, Lake Hills Church, 11431 Bee Caves Road, Austin, TX 78738; to Reading is Fundamental of Austin, P.O. Box 15989, Austin, TX 78761; to the M.D. Anderson Brain Cancer Center, PO Box 4486, Houston, TX 77210-4486; or in Kathy’s memory to the charity of the donor’s choice. Memorials and guestbook online at wcfish.com