Billie Joyce Holt
Billie Joyce Holt, lovingly referred to as “Rosy” by close friends and family, passed away Friday, October 16, 2020 in Wichita Falls, Texas, at the age of 91 years. Funeral services were held at 2:00 P.M. on Wednesday, October 21, 2020, at Dutton Funeral Home Chapel with Reverend Tim Franks, Pastor, Faith Baptist Church of Iowa Park, officiating. Billie was born on September 12, 1929, in Electra, Texas, to Grace and Mark Shirley. She had 3 younger sisters, and 7 brothers. Billie left high school early to help her mother and dad take care of her siblings. On Friday and Saturday nights, she often accompanied her siblings to the MB Corral to listen to music. According to her siblings, Billie rarely accepted any dance offers, and instead just enjoyed the music and watching them. And then one evening, Alfred Lee Holt asked her to dance, and she accepted without hesitation. About a year later on September 2, 1960, they married in Wichita Falls, Texas. They were happily married for 45 years. The Lord blesses us all with gifts, and Billie’s gift was that of caring for others with a loving and giving heart. She tirelessly cared for her mother, her two grandchildren, and many of her siblings for years, as she dearly loved her family. Then, in 1981 she received a Certificate of Training for completing the Texas Conference on Foster Care and Adoption. Billie and Lee provided a loving and safe home for countless children in crisis for close to 20 years. Billie also loved the Lord, and she loved going to Church with her sister Violet. She also enjoyed the simple things, cooking, keeping her home neat and inviting, and working in her yard to the extent that it was the envy of her neighbors.
Billie is preceded in death by her husband, Alfred Lee Holt; parents, Grace and Mark Shirley; six brothers, Winston, Mark, J.B., Donald, Eldon, and Carl Shirley.
Surviving relatives include a daughter, Joycelee Bess of Wichita Falls, Texas; her brother, Jerald Shirley of Electra, Texas; her sisters, Violet Karstetter of Iowa Park, Texas, Pearline Allen and Glenda Stoker, of Abilene, Texas; and two very special grandchildren, Jonathan “Slick”, and Gracie. She enjoyed and loved numerous nieces and nephews, two of which she has reunited with in heaven. And finally, Billie would not want to leave out two very special ladies who loved her and provided the utmost care for her in her declining years, her girls, Missy Szymanski and Gaby Ortiz.
