Billy J Williams

Billy Jim Williams was a man of many words. His stories portrayed his numerous endeavors in life; some stories taller than others. These stories left lasting impressions on every person he came in touch with and, as he walked away, smiles would still linger. Billy would tell you his wife, Lillian Williams, gave him the greatest impression of all, her love. He was a devoted husband to her for 57 years and together they enjoyed their time traveling, gathering “nuggets”, his version of treasures, and raising their two daughters. To his two daughters, Cindy and Susan, he was a strong and caring father, to his son in law, Richard, he was a mentor and a teacher, to his five grandchildren and seven great grandchildren…He was simply “Boppa”. He was the force of life behind his family, by encouraging and guiding them with his vast knowledge of love, compassion and a whole lot of common sense.

Billy Jim was born in a small East Texas town, Jasper, on April 18th, 1938 from parents, William and Jessie Williams. Growing up he worked in his grandfather’s, “Pa” Fish’s store making a dollar a day. His thirst for knowledge helped him turn that dollar a day into a life of living comfortably. In 1959, he met the love of his life, his wife, Lillian Nimtz, on her first day of work at United Gas where he was also employed. He continued his career for 45 years and retired as Sales and Marketing Manager. During this time, he coached both his daughter’s softball teams and enjoyed adventurous trips.

Billy Jim would always say he spent 45 years having to shave and cut his hair for work, so on his first day of his retirement, he began to grow out his beard and hair. The retired days turned to weeks and weeks into months, and he began using his beard as a way to measure his retired time and saying, “This is how long I have been retired for.” And as the beard grew longer, his life grew fuller and fuller. His growing age never stopped him from living an exploratory life. Shortly after retirement, Billy and his wife moved to Coldspring, Texas and opened an antique shop, called The Store, where they sold the “nuggets” they both loved collecting together. Billy Jim was a collector of many effects, such as McDonald Toys, rustic metal art and just about anything that was a “good deal”. His charm was the warmth many people felt when speaking with him, and it was his such charm that contributed to his numerous good deals. While collecting these “nuggets” to sell in his shop, he would travel Texas and participate in Texas History reenactments as a Mountain Man and his grandchildren as Indians to honor his heritage and history. His favorite time of year was the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ at Christmas. Every year, Billy Jim would disguise himself as Santa and surprise his grandchildren on Christmas Day. From umpiring Little League to playing Santa Clause to his Mountain Man reenactments, there was never a dull moment or shallow breathes in his life.

Billy Jim Williams, at age 79, ascended into Heaven to be with our Lord on May 20th, 2017. He is survived by his wife, Lillian Williams, his daughters, Cindy Delgado and Susan Booth; his brothers, Ray and Tom Williams; his sister in laws, Dorthy Heinze & Ruby Nimtz; his son in law, Richard Booth; his grandchildren, Robert Delgado, Joy-Marie Cherry, Heather Splawn, Kelley Clark and Jessica Delgado; his great-grandchildren, Michael, Alyssa & Kaitlyn Cherry, Braelynn & Deacon Splawn, and Lucas & Mindy Clark.