Billie Hudgins

Services for Billie Jo Hudgins, 92, of Cleburne will be conducted at 1pm, Saturday, December 23, 2023, at Crosier-Pearson Funeral Home, Cleburne, Texas. Pastor Ray Shannon will officiate. Burial will follow at Green Acres Memorial Park in Cleburne. Visitation will be from 6-8pm Friday, December 22, at the Funeral home.

Billie Jo Hudgins was received into the arms of Jesus Christ, on Tuesday, December 19, 2023 in Mansfield, Texas. She accepted Jesus as her Lord & Savior & was baptized while living in Bono, Texas, serving him faithfully since a young teenager.

Memorials: In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the American Cancer Society or Allies in Youth Development.

Billie Jo, referred to by family members as Jo or Aunt Jo, learned the value of hard work by living on a farm until unable to live alone in 2016. In her earlier married life, she had great fun with her sister & family making homemade banana ice cream with the hand crank & watching & cheering on the Dallas Cowboys. She was multi-talented, Valedictorian of her graduating class at Godley High School; athletic, playing Varsity Basketball all 4 high school years & even on a co-ed basketball team after high school; creative, as evidenced by her many hobbies, some of which were sewing, quilting, needlework, painting and puzzling. She has a large collection of framed paintings and puzzles that will be enjoyed by her family members for years to come. She married her high school sweetheart, Sammie Ray, after one year at North Texas College in Denton.

She and Sam were long time members of Lebanon Baptist Church, involved in all aspects of the church. They were there every time the door opened; and she continued to attend, after Sam's death, as long as her health allowed. She was an alto in the church choir and loved singing the great Baptist hymns and listening to country music. She loved channel 345 RFD and even visited it in Branson. They lived a frugal life, farming, gardening and canning. Several grandchildren remember, and miss, the delicious sour pickles that she canned. She worked, side by side, also with her husband raising cattle, pigs, chickens, etc. She helped him build a large barn where she would figure the angles while he was at work & then he would come home & weld it together. Together, they also built a pipe fence around one portion of their farm and she later painted it after he passed away.

She was a special wife & mother, very involved in the lives of her children. She lived by example. She coached softball teams for both daughters & never missed a football or baseball game of her son's. She was involved as a 4-H leader as daughters showed calves and pigs and participated in all aspects of 4-H activities. Her reward was seeing each child be successful in their endeavors.

Her husband Sammie Ray Hudgins preceded her in death on June 18, 1996. She leaves behind daughter Sammie Bell of Mansfield, Texas; daughter DiAnn McDermid, husband Michael of Albers, Illinois; and son Clay Hudgins, wife Connie of Houston, Texas; 8 grandchildren, 5 great grandchildren, 1 great-great grandchild and other extended family members & friends.

She was a gentle, sweet, beautiful godly daughter, sister, wife, mother, aunt and friend; loved by many! She will be greatly missed. A resident in her senior community center, frequently told her, "I want to be just like you when I grow up." When her daughters told her they loved her only days before her death, she responded quietly, "I love you more than you could ever love me."