Billie Virginia Hedrick

Billie graduated High School just in time to marry the kindest man and perfect match, Sam Hedrick. They were a spry nineteen years old on their wedding day which took place in the front yard of Billie’s family home. They were the twinkle in one another’s eyes for the next 57 years. Although not an official member of the military, Billie traveled the country to be with her Sam as he served in the Army Air Corps as an aircraft mechanic. She was happy to take waitressing jobs or trimming windows of department stores so she could stay with her Sam. Billie and Sam had two loving children, Sheri Perkins, a darn good mom, and Mark Hedrick, one fabulous father, who gave her a combined eleven grandchildren, who gave her a combined twenty-nine (and counting) great-grandchildren. ‘Filling in’ as a cook for over twenty years at her church, Exchange Avenue Baptist Church, gave Billie a purpose in life and a chance to test out her inner prankster, which was evident to all who knew her. Frying a clean rag that perfectly resembled a chicken fried steak and icing a brick or two along with a beautifully decorated sheet cake are a mere glimpse of her clever antics. Billie also served faithfully with her church’s youth by accompanying them on choir trips, cooking her famous from-scratch meals (those biscuits!) during the hot summers at Fall’s Creak and instigating her fair share of water fights. She was the life of the party and was happiest while laughing or planning her next prank. You cannot say “Billie” without ending in a smile (try it!). Billie had four loves in her 98 years of life: her God, her husband, her family, and her practical jokes! When she could no longer pull off the pranks herself, she would put a family member up to it or simply share her latest inkling and giggle while saying, “Wouldn’t that be funny?” Billie loved her life here on earth, yet she longed for eternal life with her Savior. She loved, she laughed, she lived. Billie, our Nannie, you will be missed. In the words of the famous Woody Wood Pecker, “HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA Ha ha ha ha ha” That’s all, ¡folks!

She was preceded in death by her parents, J. A. and Nettie Fry, her husband, Sam Hedrick; her brothers, Thomas Edmund and Arthur Benton; her sisters, Frances Evans and Charlette LaRue; and her son-in-law: Russell Perkins

She is survived by one daughter, Sheri Perkins of Amarillo, Texas; her son: Mark Hedrick and wife Sharon of Coalgate, Oklahoma; eleven grandchildren; and twenty-nine great grandchildren.
 

Memorials may be made in her memory  to the Baptist Mission Center 2125 Exchange Ave.Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73108.