Billie Faye Brown Damrell

Billie Faye Brown Damrell was born March 4, 1924 in Booneville, Logan County, Arkansas as the youngest of six children born to James William and Etta Julia Knowles Brown. She died July 28, 2025 in College Station, Texas, at the age of 101, where she was a resident in senior living at Parc of Traditions.

She is under the care of Memorial Funeral Chapel in Bryan, Texas. The family will receive guests from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a..m., with the service following at 11:00 a. m. August 23, 2025 at Memorial Funeral Chapel, 1515 South College Avenue, Bryan, Texas.

Following the service, her internment will be next to her husband Aquilla W. Damrell at Westminster Memorial Park and Mortuary Cemetery at 14801 Beach Blvd Westminster, California, 92683.

When Billie was five years old, her family moved from Arkansas to Allison, Wheeler County, Texas. She grew up on a farm east of Allison, working, along with other family members on the tasks required, including milking cows, raising chickens, and growing and harvesting cotton.

She attended Allison Methodist Church as a child and teenager, accepting Jesus as her Savior when she was 11 years old; she was baptized and joined the church at that time.

She attended Allison Public School, and as a senior, represented the school in Declamation at the State Meet in Austin, Texas where she won First Place. She graduated from high school at the age of 16 in May, 1940 and the next day married H. J. Wright from Reydon, Oklahoma. Unto that marriage, two children were born: Jimmy Ray Wright in August, 1941 and Patsy Ruth Wright, September, 1942,

Much of Billie’s life, including her first marriage, she was impacted by the Texas Dust Storms from the 1930’s, the Great Depression that began in 1929 which didn’t end until World War II began, and the War itself. Her first child died in 1941 when he was three months old; by 1943, her parents and siblings had moved to California to work in war related jobs. She made the decision in March, 1945 to also leave Texas, with her two-year old daughter, and go to work in California, where jobs were plentiful in the war effort. Once the War ended in the Fall of 1945, she continued working in the defense industry in California until 1953. She married Aquilla William “Bill” Damrell in May, 1951 and they were blessed with the birth of a son, John William, in June, 1953.

After the War ended, Billie’s husband, Bill Damrell, worked in the exploding space race up until 1968, moving his family to different projects in Iowa, Colorado, Idaho, Alabama, Mississippi and California, and then was employed in California in refrigeration for NBC. He then took a job on the Island of Yap for the Trust Territory government as a general foreman of Utilities. After moving back to California for a while, they then moved to San Antonio to be near their son, and then to Kingswood, Texas where their son had moved. They lived in the latter part of their marriage in Laguna Woods, California until Bill died in 2006.

Billie enjoyed being with her family, keeping a close relationship with her brothers and sisters, and her nieces as long as they lived. She was proud of her children and loved to talk about their accomplishments. She loved meeting people and sharing life stories with those around her. She was always the first to come if family members needed help and always attended family reunions, marriages in the family and helped celebrate milestones for the many members of the Will and Etta Brown family, including nieces and nephews and grand nieces and nephews.

She loved to travel; she and Bill spent a month in England and Scotland, traveled to many places in the United States including Washington DC, Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania. She enjoyed a couple of cruises, including an Alaskan cruise. Billie was still hoping, just a few days before she died, to travel back to her home state of Arkansas to see where they lived when she was very young.

Billie is preceded in death by her parents, James William and Etta Julia Knowles Brown, her husband Aquilla William Damrell and two of her children Jimmy Ray Wright and Patsy Wright Damrell Howard, her brother Ray and wife Lena, her brother Russell and wife Marjorie, her brother Leon and wife Ava, her sister Beatrice, and husband Harold Scroggs, and her sister Bonnie and husband Don Field.

She is survived by her son, John William Damrell and his life partner, Nancy Hope Mormann of Laguna Woods, California and three grandchildren including Julie Howard Yule, and husband Mike of Medford, Oregon, Amy Damrell of Austin, Texas, and Andrew Damrell and wife ReeMa of Baltimore Maryland, six great grandchildren, five great, great, grandchildren, nine nieces and nephews and many other extended family members.

Billie loved being actively involved with those she loved – going out to dinner, playing cards, or traveling. She enjoyed life and was always interesting to be around.

She will be greatly missed by those that knew and loved her.