Billie J. Sexton

Published 9:16 am Tuesday, December 22, 2015

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, Ky. She attended Virgie, Kentucky High School and Free Will Baptist Bible College, Nashville, Tenn. She married Don Sexton, the love of her life, on December 23, 1950. She was a stay-at-home mom until Don became a minister. Then, 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, Tenn. In 1972, at the ages of 42 and 38, Don and 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 and 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 and talking to people until recent years, when her hearing loss increased, and Macular Degeneration stole most of her vision.
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 and daughter-in-law, Kyle and Dot Sexton, her daughter and son-in-law, Donna and David Cook, a granddaughter, Taylor Cook, sister and 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 for Billie J. Sexton will be held at 6 p.m. Saturday, December 26, at Tetrick Funeral & Cremation Services, Johnson City, with Wesley Simons officiating. The family will receive friends to share memories from 4 until 6 p.m. Saturday at the funeral home. A graveside service will be held at 3 p.m. Sunday, December 27, at Happy Valley Memorial Park in Elizabethton. Attendees are asked to meet at the Mausoleum Chapel by 2:50 p.m. Memories and condolences may be shared and viewed online at www.tetrickfuneralhome.com.
Tetrick Funeral & Cremation Services, 3001 Peoples Street, Johnson City, (423) 610-7171, is honored to serve the Sexton family.