Billy Joe Gallops

Billy is survived by his two sons, Billy Gallops Jr. (Tiarra) & Spencer Gallops; father, James Gallops Sr.;

brother, James Gallops Jr. (Tammie); sister, Brandie Owings; nephews, Chris Gallops (Kayla), TJ Deale,

Andrew Owings; niece, Alexis Deale, and several loving aunts, uncles, and cousins.

He is preceded in death by his mother, Margaret Gallops, grandmothers, Ethel Gallops and Edna

Atkisson; grandfathers, Bill Gallops and Joseph Atkisson.

A memorial will be held at Hollins Baptist Church on Sunday, August 20, 2022 at 2:30 P.M. In lieu of

flowers, the family asks that any love donations be sent to Hollins Baptist Church PO Box 54 Hollins, AL 35082 with designation that it is for his funeral expenses.

If the saying is true, that God gives you a (mostly) well behaved first child so you’ll actually have a 2nd, it

might have been Billy that made it so. He was born on a hot summer August day in 1971 a rebel and

lived his entire life that way. He scared his momma by bringing home various motorcycles and many

people remember him as “Wild Bill” since it was so proudly displayed in bold white letters on his

windshield, back in the late 80's and early 90’s. He lived up to that name as a teenager and didn’t care

much what anyone else thought.

But when he was a young teenager, a family friend took him for a ride in his 18 wheeler and he came

home and told his dad that THAT was what he wanted to do when he grew up. And the day he turned 21

he transferred to Avondale’s trucking department, where they trained him and he set off on his dream

career, leaving behind some of that wild lifestyle (at least, on the road anyway!). Billy earned a Million

Mile award with Avondale Mills and also with Wal-Mart for having no accidents. He was so proud of that

career, as he should have been. But more important than that, the thing Billy was most proud of was his

two boys. Every mile he drove was for them and to help them have a good life. He mentioned on more

than one occasion that those two boys were the best thing he did with his life and he truly meant it.

Boys, your dad was SO proud of you and the rest of your family is too.

Addiction is a terrible disease that you just can’t understand unless you suffer with it & loving someone

that struggles with addiction is one of the most tumultuous things you can go through in life. It’s easy to

look from the outside and say, “Well I’d do this” or “They should have handled it this way.” But it’s not

that simple. If you’ve never had to navigate that in your own life, be thankful for it and pray for the ones

that have/are currently. Hug your loved ones and let them know you love them because tomorrow is

not promised.