Billy Birmingham 7/9/1946 -3/22/2008
Billy Birmingham, passed away at approximately
2:30 a.m. on Saturday, March 22, 2008 as a result of pancreatic cancer.
Billy M. Birmingham was born in Victoria, Texas on July 9, 1946. Most
of his youth was spent near his father’s family in South Texas, with his
mother’s family living in the East Texas area. As a youth, he loved
books. He would ride his bicycle to the library and return home with
several tied to his bike with a belt. Billy began playing the saxophone
as a teenager. In High School, he was a member of several bands in the
community. His parents still talk about the polkas that they attended.
In 1964, Billy chose to attend Sam Houston State University on a music
scholarship, and became a member of the Phi Mu Alpha. He didn’t get his
degree right away because he felt led to quit school to be drafted into
the United States Army. He served his term but was disappointed that he
was never called upon for actual combat although he was everybody’s
favorite since he was their company clerk. Upon returning home, he
returned to college while working for the Texas Department of Criminal
Justice. In 1979, he received his Masters Degree in Criminology. After
over 28 years with the prison system, Billy retired to fulfill his dream
of living in East Texas. His wife presented him with a wonderful
retirement present of his son, Cole. Both he and Cole are members of
the the International TaeKwonDo Alliance, and hold second degree black
belts. In the past couple of years, he found excitement in acting in the
Rusk Cherokee Civic Theatre. Billy’s favorite past time was working on
his property. His wife describes him as being eclectic, loving life and
always finding humor in life’s situations. Billy was preceded in death
by his infant daughter, Shelly Marie.
Surviving him are his wife, Katherine Carroll Birmingham and son, Joshua
Cole Birmingham; his parents, Bill and Marie Birmingham of Rusk, Texas;
sister and brother-in-law, Kathy and Dick Schmidt of San Antonio, Texas;
brother and sister-in-law, Tim and Fran Birmingham of Rusk, Texas;
nieces Leanne, Dana, Sarah, Kim, Karmin, Hannah, and nephew, Noah; two
adult children, Amy Beth and James Martin, and three grandchildren,
Kindal, Alexis and Piper, of Huntsville, Texas; and many other friends
and relatives.
The memorial services will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, March 29,
2008 at Autry Funeral Home Chapel, 1025 SE Loop 456, Jacksonville, Texas
75766.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Paralyzed Veterans of
America and Disabled American Veterans.
Information from Autry Funeral Home
Billy Birmingham
Billy Birmingham died Saturday, March 22, 2008, as a result of pancreatic cancer. He was born in Victoria, on July 9, 1946. He was preceded in death by his grandparents, Martin and Lucille Birmingham of Edna, Texas. Billy grew up next door to his grandparents and was very close to them both. Martin died before Billy started to school, but he cherished his memories of time he spent with his grandfather. Lucille lived long enough to see Billy’s children, her great grandchildren. Billy felt the loss of his grandparents until the day he died. Billy was also preceded in death by an infant daughter, Shelley Marie Birmingham, who died at birth, and his stepson Aaron Wayne Dailey, who died in a hunting accident at the age of 15. Shelley Marie is buried in Jarrett Cemetery and Billy visited her grave often. Billy worked at TDCJ for many. He worked as a Sociologist in the Treatment Division, promoted to a job in Research and Development and at retirement he was assigned to the Facilities Division. Billy wrote the Classification Plan that has been used at TDCJ for the past 20 years. During a time of great upheaval at TDCJ when Mr. Estelle left, Billy was selected by Robert Gunn, the Chairman of the Board of Corrections to act as his Liaison with the agency until a new director could be named. It was always Billy’s dream to write a book about the prison system, titled “Against the Peace and Dignity of the State.” In addition to Shelley Marie, who was Billy’s first child, he had two other children, Amy Beth Owens and James (Jay) Martin Birmingham. Amy is married to Jerod Owens and they have two children, Kindal Gavin Owens and Alexis Elizabeth Owens. Jay has a daughter, Piper Simone Birmingham. Amy and Jay and their children have many fond and happy memories of their Dad and they are grateful that they had the past year to reflect and say goodbye. Published in the Jacksonville Daily Progress from 4/6/2008 - 4/7/2008.
BILLY M. BIRMINGHAM
Memorial for Billy M. Birmingham will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday at
Autry Funeral Home.
Mr. Birmingham died March 22. He was born in Victoria July 9, 1946. In 1964, he attended Sam Houston State University on a music scholarship, and became a member of the Phi Mu Alpha. He quit school to be drafted into the U.S. Army. Upon returning home, he returned to college while working for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. In 1979, he received his Masters Degree in criminology. After more than 28 years with the prison system, he retired to fulfill his dream of living in East Texas.
Both he and son, Cole, are members of the International Tae Kwon Do Alliance, and hold second degree black belts. In the past couple of years, he acted in the Rusk Cherokee Civic Theatre. He was preceded in death by his infant daughter, Shelly Marie. Surviving him are his wife, Katherine Carroll Birmingham; son, Joshua Cole Birmingham; his parents, Bill and Marie Birmingham of Rusk; sister and brother-inlaw, Kathy and Dick Schmidt of San Antonio; brother and sister-in-law, Tim and Fran Birmingham of Rusk; nieces Leanne, Dana, Sarah, Kim, Karmin, Hannah and nephew, Noah; two adult children, Amy Beth and James Martin, and three grandchildren, Kindal, Alexis and Piper, of Huntsville. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Paralyzed Veterans of America and Disabled American Veterans.
March 26, 2008
Information from The Cherokeean Herald