Billie Jo Peirce

Funeral services will be held on Wednesday February 15, at 10:00 a.m. at Memorial Funeral Chapel, 1515 South College Avenue, Bryan, TX 77801. Officiating the service will be Reverend Bill Wiman. A private family entombment will follow the funeral ceremony. Visitation will be held on Tuesday February 14 from 5:30 p.m. until 7:30 p.m. at the funeral home.

Billie Jo was born on July 31, 1921, in Iowa Park, TX to James Lewis Lochridge and Gertrude Josephine Denny Lochridge. She attended school in Highland Park and Austin, TX graduating from Austin High School in 1938. She received a B.A. in English and a M.A. in Library Science, graduating from Texas State College for Women in Denton in 1942.

After college, Billie Jo worked as a cataloger for Baylor University Library in Waco. During World War II, she worked as a Civil Service librarian at the Naval Air Station Library in Corpus Christi, TX. Following the war, she was the Head Reference Librarian at the Texas A and M College Cushing Library in College Station.

She married James Franklin Peirce on September 3, 1947, and they were married for 64 years. Their daughter, Janet Katherine, lives in Georgetown, TX.

Billie Jo was a loving wife, mother, and homemaker who will be remembered for her love of reading travel, and needlework. She will be especially remembered for the beautiful counted cross-stitch pictures she embroidered and the 100 Christmas cards she cross-stitched every year for twenty-five years for friends and family. Over the years, she planned numerous trips, and she and her husband, Frank, traveled all over the world. Her favorite place to visit was Africa because she loved going on safari and seeing the animals.

She demonstrated her love of God by her faithful service as a member of First Baptist Church of Bryan, always working behind the scenes and never drawing attention to herself. Over the years, she taught Sunday School to four year olds, and needlework and English to international student wives in the Discovery program. As church librarian, she was responsible for its growth and development until recent years. Retiring from the library on April 24, 2005, she was named Librarian Emeritus “in recognition and appreciation for her 50 years of service” to the church.

Billie Jo is survived by her husband, Frank, who lovingly cared for her until the end of her life; her daughter, Janet; her sister and brother-in-law, Martha Katherine and Lee H. Reed, Jr. of Baytown, TX; nieces Sarah K. and husband Terry Wahl of Baytown and Beth Reed of Baytown; nephew, John and wife, Sandy Peirce, of El Dorado Hills, CA; and numerous great nieces, nephews and cousins.

In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made in Billie Jo Peirce’s name to First Baptist Church Library, 3100 Cambridge Dr., Bryan, TX 77802.

The family would like to thank the staff at The Wesleyan at Scenic Nursing Home and Wesleyan Hospice for their care for Billie Jo.