Billie J. Sexton
December 20, 2015
Date of Service: December 27, 2015
Interment Location: Mausoleum of Peace
To the great grief of her earthly family, Billie J. Sexton departed this life on Sunday, December 20, 2015 and went to Heaven to spend Christmas celebrating with her Creator and with her beloved husband, Don.
Billie was born on February 13, 1934 in Coxton, Kentucky. She attended Virgie, Kentucky High School and Free Will Baptist Bible College, Nashville, Tennessee. She married Don Sexton, the love of her life, on December 23, 1950. Billie was a stay-at-home mom until Don became a minister and she became a dedicated pastor’s wife, including learning to play the piano. Don and Billie pastored the Roan Street Free Will Baptist Church in the early 1960s in Elizabethton. They started the First Free Will Baptist Church in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and Billie started working as a dental assistant to Dr. Slayden Hunt, to supplement the family income, while still very actively serving as a pastor’s wife.
In 1972, at the ages of 42 & 38, Don & Billie answered the Lord’s call and went to Switzerland to language school to learn French so they could start a Free Will Baptist Church in France. They first served the church in Nantes, France, then started a church in St. Nazaire, France. In 1979, when Don’s health began to fail due to Parkinson’s Disease, they returned to the United States. Don & Billie worked tirelessly all across the country to raise money in support of foreign missions, which led to the creation of the annual Don & Billie Sexton Walk-A-Thon.
Billie never quite recovered after Don passed away on December 17, 1997. She loved her Saviour, her family, flowers, and her toy poodle, Isabel. Billie loved entertaining & talking to people until recent years, when her hearing loss increased, and Macular Degeneration stole most of her vision.
Billie was a kind, thoughtful person whose life made an impact on many. She will live on forever in our hearts, and we will forever miss her terribly, as long as we shall remain on this earth.
She was preceded in death by her husband (Donald Ray Sexton), her parents (Nathan and Bessie Mae Lay) and her brother (Ernest Lay). Those left to cherish her memory and look forward to seeing her again in Heaven are her son & daughter-in-law (Kyle and Dot Sexton), her daughter and son-in-law (Donna and David Cook), a granddaughter (Taylor Cook), sister & brother-in-law (Sue and Ray Moore), sister (Janet Denison), three brothers-in-law (Dan Sexton, Harold Sexton and Larry Sexton), a step-great-granddaughter (McKenzie Taylor), and a step-great-grandson (Jordan Taylor).
A Celebration of Life Service will be held at 6:00PM on Saturday, December 26, 2015 at Tetrick Funeral & Cremation Services, Johnson City with Wesley Simons officiating. The family will receive friends to share memories from 4:00PM until 6:00PM at the funeral home on Saturday, December 26, 2015. A Graveside Service will be held at 3:00 PM on Sunday, December 27, 2015 at Happy Valley Memorial Park, Elizabethton. Attendees are asked to meet at the Mausoleum Chapel by 2:50PM.
Memories and condolences may be shared and viewed online at www.tetrickfuneralhome.com. Tetrick Funeral & Cremation Services, 3001 Peoples Street, Johnson City, TN 37604 423.610.7171 is honored to serve the Sexton family.
