Lani Terisa Billingsley

Lani Terisa Billingsley passed away unexpectedly, Tuesday, January 21st, 2014. She was born in Lawton, OK. on June 8th, 1950. Terisa spent some of her childhood in Germany as a military brat before moving with her family to Houston in 1962 where she would eventually graduate from Waltrip High School in 1968. Between 1969 and 1975 she would become the proud mother of three children before beginning a 34 year career with HISD. In 1979, she was hired by Katherine Smith Elementary School where she became a teacher’s aid and soon became the attendance clerk. “Ms. B” eventually left K. Smith and became the secretary at Benbrook Elementary where she soon became a favorite of teachers and parents as well as the students. In 1997, she found a new home at Sinclair Elementary as their school secretary/administrator. Terisa quickly became respected and well loved by teachers, staff, parents, community and most importantly, the students. Terisa took great joy in giving to others and during her time at Sinclair, she did so through a variety of projects and accomplishments that include:

* Advocating the Sinclair Spark Park Rejuvenation and was instrumental in getting more trees planted on campus through Trees for Houston.

* Spearheaded reading programs that included HISD's Million Dollar book challenge.

* Organized holiday reading programs in which volunteers from the community read traditional holiday stories to students.

* Initiated a reading program called the Central Bank and Sinclair Elementary Reading challenge which would challenge neighboring schools to read and record as many books as possible. With Terisa in charge, Sinclair never lost a reading challenge.

* She initiated the remodeling of the school library into a beautiful and inspirational hand painted castle theme.

* She coordinated the 50th anniversary celebration of Sinclair.

* She was HISD's employee of the month in 2010.

* She was a lifetime PTA member.

Terisa also organized ongoing school activities such as:

* Grandparent’s day luncheon at school

* Volunteers in Public Schools (VIPS) coordinator

* Courtesy Committee (planned all parties and special celebrations for the school staff)

* Shared Decision Making Committee (SDMC)

* Cherrydale school-wide fundraiser

* Planning Red Ribbon Week

* Promoting bullying awareness

* Put together Sinclair’s newsletter, The Stargazer

Terisa, a.k.a. "Mom", "Tutu", "Ms. B", and "Sticker Lady" was loved and remembered by everyone she touched. She was kind hearted and sincerely cared for others. She was a dedicated and loving Mother who always put her children's needs ahead of her own. As a young mother, she was active in all the social activities of her children which included PTA, Cub Scouts, sports, band and academics. She continued to be active in their adult lives as she sincerely cared about the happiness and wellbeing of her children. She was intelligent, fair, honest, giving, open minded, nonjudgmental and had a love for life which she intended to live to the fullest after her retirement from HISD in August 2013. After retirement, she quickly signed up to be a volunteer in both HISD and Spring Branch ISD. Being retired was not going to stop her from making a difference in the lives of the students she loved.

Terisa was very talented. She could sing, draw, create original homemade crafts and also began writing children’s stories that may one day be published. She was a bookworm and had an intense passion for music and the arts. She enjoyed traveling to new places and had dreams of seeing the world. She was adventurous and unafraid to try something daring, especially when nudged by her children. She enjoyed her new social life with her retired friends and became a member of the Houston Heights Woman’s Club.

Terisa dearly loved all of her children and grandchildren; but her true love was Aidan, her 11 year old grandson. Not a moment went by without a thought of him. Aidan and his "Tutu" were inseparable.

Terisa had always dreamed of being a school teacher and although she never received an official teaching certificate, she truly was a teacher to us all. She taught us to love one another without judgment and she taught us to treat people with sincerity and kindness. She taught us to appreciate the beauty of nature, the love of God, spirituality, and everything that life has to offer. She led by example and taught us to put family first and to care for one another unconditionally.

Terisa was an inspiration to us all as to how to treat and love one another. She will be remembered and truly missed by the many lives she touched over the years. If she were here today, I think she would be completely overwhelmed to see how many people truly loved her in return.

Terisa is preceded by her fathers Dow E. Farrar, R.A. Davis and survived by her Mother, Lillian Davis, and brother Eddie Davis, and her three children, David Billingsley, Josh Billingsley and Cathe Hefner, her son in law Brady, daughter in law Shannon, her grandchildren Aidan, Ciera, Nathan, Micah and nephew Zachary, and her great grandchildren. Caden and Peyton.

Memorial Services are being held Thursday, January 30th at Lazybrook Baptist Church on 1822 W. 18th St. Houston, Tx 77008. Visitation begins at 4:30 PM followed by Memorial Services at 5:30 PM. A reception will follow in the Lazybrook fellowship hall. The Terisa Billingsley Library Memorial Fund is being set up at Sinclair Elementary. Donations can be made payable to Sinclair Elementary with Terisa’s name in the memo line.