Billie Jean Loftis

Billie Jean Loftis was born in Houston, Texas on February 18, 1929 to Clarence J. Johnson, Sr. and Fannie Bell Powell Johnson. She passed away peacefully on the morning of October 28, 2020 at the age of 91. She was the youngest of 6 children and was the incredibly spoiled baby of the family. Her family soon moved to Austin where she remained for the rest of her life. Billie attended Maplewood Elementary, Fulmore Junior High, and Austin High School. At Austin High, she enjoyed singing in the Girls’ Choir and graduated in 1947. Following her graduation, she attended Durham’s Business School. Billie met the love of her life, Harold at First Street Christian Church. According to Harold, he saw her sitting in the church choir and knew that she was the one! They waited until Billie turned 21 and 4 days after her birthday, they married. They were married for 66 wonderful years. Billie worked at Camp Mabry at the Armory Board for several years until she felt the pull to stay home with her children. She made a wonderful home and in addition to her regular homemaking, she sewed most of Kathy’s clothes; including twirling uniforms and served as a Girl Scout Leader for many years. She spent hours helping her children with schoolwork and projects and loved to attend programs, games and contests which was later carried on to her grandchildren’s activities. She loved all holidays and made sure that each was celebrated with style. In addition to sewing, she loved crafting and floral arranging and she had a great eye for detail. When you walked into her home, you were drawn into the holiday themes and decorations. With the purchase of a pool table, a ping pong table, and a Coke machine, the Loftis home became a popular Friday night hang out for Billie’s children, their friends and many neighborhood kids. The ice-cold bottled Coca Colas and homemade ice cream were a hit with everyone. She loved hosting these get-togethers and Billie has enjoyed keeping up with “the kids” over the years. Many have called or stopped by to visit and catch up with her. Billie was a long-time member of Koenig Lane Christian Church where she taught Sunday School, attended Circle Meetings, helped with many Mother/Daughter Banquets and Fellowship Suppers. She and Harold helped to establish the History Room at KLCC and were proud to preserve its history. She loved Sundays as she was able to see her children and grandchildren, her brother-in-law and sister-in-law, and many friends. In 1974, Billie was asked to come to work at the National Guard Association of Texas for 30 days to help kick off a new insurance program. She ended up staying and became the Director of Insurance. Later, she employed her daughter as her file clerk. They worked side by side for 5 years before Billie retired. After her retirement, she and Harold enjoyed traveling around the United States. On the trips, she enjoyed shopping and Harold videoed and preserved their memories to enjoy for years to come. Billie loved the Longhorns, so much so, that in the late 60’s, she purchased orange and white furniture for the den and hung the iconic picture of the #1 UT Tower that celebrated the 1969 National Football Title. Nothing made her prouder than having her children graduate from the University of Texas. Later, her den became a focal point for her grandchildren’s graduation pictures. She was very quick to brag that all 5 grandchildren were college graduates! In the 1980’s, Billie and Harold were gifted 2 Snow Village houses for Christmas. Her love of holidays, crafts, and collecting led them to a wonderful new hobby. They started collecting Department 56 houses and creating Snow Village displays throughout their home. It started small and soon snowballed into an amazing twinkling Christmas wonderland throughout their home. Harold provided the layouts which included Lionel trains and electronics with Billie supplying the details that brought the villages to life. The pool table was now used as a platform for a room full of holiday magic. Villages could be found all throughout the house and filled the living room, bookcases, on beds and even in a bathtub! The Austin American Statesman featured Billie and Harold and referred to them as the “Village People”. Along with their displays, they helped form the “Hill Country 56er’s Club” for local collectors of Dept 56 Villages and were written up in the Dept 56 collectors’ magazines. One of the features was their village which incorporated a drive-in theater that played “White Christmas” on the screen as well as an artist painted wall that served as a backdrop for the village. The villages now brought in many guests to holiday parties for club members, family, and friends. With the coming of grandchildren, Billie became Nanny. She was tiny, but mighty and loved her family dearly. She loved gift giving and didn’t stop at one. Christmas was a celebration and just like her villages, she was in to all the details, she loved filling her home with gifts for her loved ones and was delighted to see the joy in all of their faces when opening the presents that she had handpicked for each one. As her family grew, the time it took to open presents just became longer as she was not about to decrease any of the presents. She was a sweet, funny and loving Mother and Grandmother and will be missed by all. Billie was proceeded in death by her adoring husband of 66 years, Harold; her parents, her brothers- Clarence Jr. and Lewis and sisters- Bernice, Dotsie and Ardie Bell. She is survived by her daughter, Kathy and husband, Les Gallatin; her son, Dennis and wife, Cindy Loftis; her grandson, Marshall and wife, Christie Gallatin, and step great grandson, Ryan; her grandson, John and wife, Diana Loftis and great granddaughter Joana; her grandson Russell and wife, Lea Gallatin and their two daughters; her grandson Christopher, and wife Erika Loftis and great grandkids, Olivia and Finn; her granddaughter, Rebecca Loftis and fiancé’ Tim Giese. She is also survived by her brother-in-law, James and wife Patsy Loftis; her sister-in-law, Nancy Kay Smith and many nieces and nephews. The family would like to say a special thank you to many caregivers who have taken care of Mother for the last seven years so that she could stay in her home, Mark, Diana, Rachel, Karen, Lou, Ginger, and Hannah, to name a few. Extra special thanks goes to Nancy Williams who took such good care of Mother for many of those years…baking her cookies every Sunday, making her drink all of her water, showing her pictures of her goats, taking her to family functions and making Mom laugh. Services to be held November 2, 2020 beginning with a private family viewing. A graveside service will to be held at 4:00 pm with Dr. Jim Lewis of Koenig Lane Christian Church officiating, at the Cook-Walden Capital Parks Cemetery in Pflugerville. Arrangements are under the direction and personal care of Austin Natural Funerals.

Billie Jean Loftis

February 18, 1929 - October 28, 2020