"Her Children Rise Up and Call Her Blessed"

Billie Louise (Yelvington) Miller was born on August 30, 1929 in Cleburne, Texas. Her family moved to Lubbock, Texas when she was a baby and Billie lived there until she graduated from Lubbock High School.

As a teenager, Billie was a part of the Salvation Army and on the debate team. She was a member of the "Corp Cadets", a six year Bible study, and a member of the 600 Club which consisted of those who made only one hundreds on their Bible texts for 6 months. She met her future husband, Van Miller, when they were both in Wichita Falls to compete in the Texas State Speaker's Contest. As winners of their region (Billie – West Texas and Van – Gulf Coast) they each had to give a 15 to 18 minute sermonette on John 3:16. Of course, Billie won the contest! Van was fond of saying, "She won the contest, but I won the girl." Of course, that should have been his first clue that he would never win any debate with her for the rest of their lives together!

Billie and Van married on June 27, 1948 and remained faithful to each other for 72 years before Van passed away in 2020.

Through the years they raised a family of five children – Linda, Mike, Caron, Randy, and Lori, which grew to include 12 grandchildren – Joel, Joy, Josh and Jon, Chad, Christi, Clay and Megan, Jake and Brandi, Lindsay and Lauren. In due season, 24 great-grandchildren arrived – Cody,  Chase, Dillan, and Dixie, Andrew, Austin, and Claire, Juliana and Alexander, Jacob and Wilhelmina, Courtney, Ryan and Caitlin, Noah, Avery and Elijah, Bradley, Ava, Dylan, Natalie, Sean, Ella, and Cameron, and Kinsley. Oh, and let's not forget the six great-great-grandchildren – Scarlett, Logan and Evelyn, Kara, Kelsey and Luke . Quite a full quiver!

Billie attended Jessie Lee Beauty School to become a hairdresser and an instructor in the school. In 1970, she bought a hair salon in Richardson and named it "The Gold Door" which she owned for many years before retiring from the profession. She was also the "Mom" for all the choirs Van led, feeding as many as 50 choir members every month in their home. She loved teaching Sunday School and was quite a Bible scholar. She loved all things pink and "blingy."

Billie is survived by her children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great grandchildren, as well as sisters-in-law Patsy Arnold, Pearl Priebe and Pat Miller.