Billy Alexander of Fresno, California was born on May 11, 1929 in Pittsburg County, Oklahoma. He departed this life on Wednesday, August 15, 2018. He was 89 years old. He was the only son of Creed Taylor Alexander and Edith Marie Cline Alexander.
Humor and a quick wit were among Billy’s prized gifts. He was an unassuming, giant personality. He wrapped his knowledge from world travels in a warm Oklahoma-spun accent and presence that charmed us all. Billy loved life and his family. He carried a deep sense of responsibility and commitment to family. His beloved Oklahoma and memories of it were never far from his heart and mind.
Billy connected with the soil. He was able to make plants and vegetables blossom and grow. He canned as well. Billy’s jams, jellies, pickles and other delights were treasured gifts indeed. He perfected his famous Christmas candy and gifted it over many decades.
Billy always included the story of his family’s relocation to California as an important part of his life story.
As a toddler in Oklahoma, Billy said some of his earliest memories were of the day-to-day struggles amidst the Great Depression.
In 1941, when Billy was 12 years old, the Alexanders began the trek to California, working their way west. They worked picking cotton from Texas to New Mexico. In early December 1941, the family arrived in Coolidge, Arizona. Billy and the family remained there working, even in a munitions plant, after December 7th. In 1943, they left, once again, for California. The Alexanders reached Keys, California just south of Modesto and there Billy graduated from 8th grade.
In September 1944, the Alexanders arrived in Fresno County, California. In 1948, Billy graduated from Tranquility High School in Tranquility, California.
In 1949, Billy entered the United States Navy. He attended “boot camp” in San Diego, California. A year-long training program in Memphis, Tennessee followed. In 1950, Billy was transferred to Whidbey Island, Washington where he was assigned to VP-931 Squadron. He was deployed twice: first to the Marshall Islands and then to Kodiak, Alaska. In 1953, Billy was discharged from the U.S. Navy. Seven years later, in 1960, Billy re-enlisted.
During Billy’s years of service; he was assigned to several stations, always in the field of aviation electronics:
• U.S.S. Ranger, Aircraft Carrier, 1960-1964
• China Lake, California, 1964-1965
• Electronics “B School” – Tennessee, 1965-1966
• “North Island” – School for Radio Controlled Helicopter, DRONE, San Diego, California
• Brice Canyon, Destroyer, Long Beach, California -- deployment to Hawaii
• U.S.S. Blue, DD 744, Destroyer, Technician for DRONE Helicopters operation
• Instructor Duty, Memphis, Tennessee, 1968
• Instructor Duty, Lemoore, California, Naval Air Station 1968-1972
• A7 Squadron, Lemoore, California, two deployments with squadron on the U.S.S. Enterprise, Nuclear Aircraft Carrier
Billy’s U.S. Navy career milestones include:
• January 15, 1975 “Imperium Neptuni Regis” – Presented to Billy on crossing the equator on the U.S.S. Enterprise, CVAN -65, Nuclear Aircraft Carrier
• June 16, 1975 Fleet Reserve -Discharged from the U. S. Navy with 20 years of service.
Japan, Guam, the Philippines, Hong Kong, Singapore, Viet Nam, Hawaii and Mombasa, Kenya are among Billy’s global travels. Stateside, Billy said that he visited almost every state in the union.
Billy is preceded in death by his parents, Creed Taylor Alexander and Edith Marie Cline Alexander; a son, Michael and two sisters: Betty Jo and Virginia.
He is survived by and leaves to mourn, his wife, Roseann E. Brown-Alexander; his daughter, Sherriel Dean Stiles of Kennewick, Washington; two sisters, Junell Alexander Sullivan and Mary Magdalene Mathis of Fresno, California; four grandchildren; eleven great-grandchildren; many loving and beloved nieces, nephews and extended family members; as well as the maternal branch of the Cline family, who were dear to his heart and soul.
A Funeral Service will be held at Whitehurst, Sullivan, Burns & Blair Funeral Home on Friday, August 24, 2018, 10:30 a.m. Interment to follow at Fresno Memorial Gardens.
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