Billie Ruth Whaley, born in Brunt, Texas on February 12, 1927 to Ralph Scott (Aug.1898-Sept. 1934) and Gertrude Johnson (June 1899-Oct.1989). She married Leon Whaley Jr. in Fairfield, Texas on Dec. 27, 1943 just prior to is enlistment into the U.S. Navy. She is proceeded in death by her parents, husband, Leon; two sisters (Jo Dell Smith and Maureen Poff) one brother, Joseph Lee Scott. She is survived by a son, Scott Whaley and a daughter Karen Jo Parker, in addition to 3 grandsons, Ryan, Tyler Washam, and Matthew Nichols. She leaves behind 7 great grandchildren, plus nieces, nephews and countless longtime friends.
Billie's life was forever marked early on by the premature death of her father in an automobile accident leaving a young widow of only 35 to raise 4 young children alone. The home town of Kilgore, Texas was in the midst of an oil boom. Her mother ran a boarding house with only the help of the children and one black man. She prepared 3 meals a day for the oil riggers and Billie stood on a stool to wash dishes earing a nickel a day.
The next mark on her life was when at the tender age of 17 she married her husband, Leon before he left for Pearl Harbor. He took her to his family's ranch in Texas for his mother to take under her wing while he was overseas Even though she was surrounded by a loving family, she had to face yet another huge transition.
On Oct. 1945 with an eighty eight dollar discharge payment and an Honorable Discharge Leon mustered out of the Navy and joined his bride to start from scratch, a new life together. Now came yet another transition for Billie. They moved to Waco, Texas where Leon found work and they lived in a rented room sharing kitchen and bath facilities with an old couple. Billie did the laundry in the bath tub.
After gathering sufficient funds, Billie and Leon moved to Duncanville, TX. where they bought a tiny piece of land to build a house and Leon went to work for Dallas Power & Light. They camped in a bread delivery van given to him by his Dad and a large chicken house that was on the property while the house was built. Yet another transition for Billie, but she was happy as tow of Leon's cousins lived on the adjacent land.
Yet another transition came when Billie and Leon left Texas to live and work for a short period of time in Lancaster, Ca. Leon's uncle, Raymond Scruggs, a familiar name to the Crest Community in the early 1950s, set in motion another transition by introducing them to the beauty of living on the mountain called Crest. Leon began working as an electrician at Convair and Billie worked at what was then First National, now the Union Bank, on Magnolia in El Cajon as they rented their first home in Crest on Alabar Rd. Billie worked at the bank and Leon worked nights when they moved to Hamlet Dr. and adopted their son & daughter. When Leon's mother bought a parcel of land and divided it among her 3 children, Billie and Leon built their home on La Cresta Blvd. along with his sister, his mother and Uncle Raymond Scruggs lived on adjacent properties. Billie and Leon and his Uncle were the driving force behind the Mountaintop Mutual Water Co. and the building of Crest Chapel.
Billie was blessed with friendship of and the traveling companion of her neighbor Louisa Costa who had built their home next door on some of the original mountaintop land in which Raymond Scruggs had seen the potential back in the 1050's.
Billie was surrounded with loving family, but none so faithful and loving as her grandson Ryan Washam, who managed her rental property and met her every need. As Billie's many health issues advanced Ryan's wife Angela quit her job to become Billie's caregiver. Further rapid decline necessitated he and his family moving into her home to provide the nursing care she needed. After a hospital stay, Hospice care was deemed necessary and Ryan, still determined to take care of his Nannie, he and Angela assumed the final intense final days of care.
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