Ellen Stull Billings Obituary
She was the fifth child of William Harmon and Etta Allen Stull and their first girl. She was followed by two sisters and one more brother. She was married to Milbra Arestine Billings for forty eight years until his death in 1989. She is survived by her daughter, Sue Ellen and husband Clyde William (Bill) Moss; three sons, Milbra Arestine Billings, Jr. (Bo), Thomas William Billings, and Danny O'Keith and wife Gayle Billings; one sister, Fern Hillman, and one brother, Pete Stull; her grandchildren, Margaret Ellen and husband Randy Garrett and their children Trent, Liriel, and Liam; Sherry Billings and her children Emily Campbell and Madeline Cauble; Mandy Newcomer and son Landon; Brittany Ann and husband Eric Barber and their children Camden and Mason.
She is also survived by two daughters-in-law, Doris Gaynell Billings and Roxane Billings. Her life was one adventure after another. Space won't permit but for a few of them, but the highlights of her life were many. She and her husband married when they were 18 years old and had an extraordinary live together. They had only been married for eight months when Pearl Harbor was bombed.
Mr. Billings joined the navy the next day. While he was serving our country, she moved home to her parents' farm in Ohio where she had a cow named "Beef Steak" and a pig named "Pork Chop;" they were never slaughtered and allowed to live a natural life. At one point, she and a sister-in-law worked in an airplane factory for the war effort.
After the war and her husband's discharge from the Navy, he attended college on the GI Bill which led him to a job with Western Electric and a move to Winston-Salem. Unfortunately, shortly thereafter, tragedy stuck during the polio epidemic as her two oldest children contracted the virus. They were admitted to a hospital in West Virginia and she stayed with her husband's family so she could be with them daily.
Her husband took the bus every weekend to be with her and the children so he could sleep during the trip up and then returning to Winston-Salem every Sunday. By prayer and sheer force, she willed her children to survive. As her life progressed another once-in-a-lifetime adventure came her way. They had the opportunity to live on Kwajalein Atoll where her husband was a key player in the development of a missiles defense system for the United States.
It was another wonderful adventure for the entire family. She managed the jewelry department at the PX affectionately known as "Macy's". They returned to Winston-Salem in the Fall of 1963. Her children had become so accustomed to swimming and water sports, she and her husband immediately had a large pool installed and found property at Lake Norman for them to continue water skiing.
In 1972 she began another adventure when her husband was offered a transfer to North Dakota to help develop another missile defense system. Despite the many below-zero temperatures, she once again adapted and enjoyed every minute of her time there. In 1976, while driving home to Winston-Salem, her husband was struck with a heart attack.
She made sure he was stabilized before returning home and nursed him back to health. Unfortunately, in later years, he developed cancer and passed away in 1989. In 1993, she met the second love of her life, Walt. Even though they never married nor lived together, they were together every day until he passed away in 2008. She always said she had a wonderful life despite everything she endured.
She taught her children to take the good with the bad and to keep putting one foot in front of the other. She led by example. God blessed all who knew her and especially those. He chose to be her children. She loved each and every child, their spouses, her grandchildren, and her great-grandchildren, as well as all the dogs, cats, birds, hamsters, and gerbils that her children brought home; except maybe not so much the snakes.
It was always a zoo of friends and animals at the Billings home. The family would like to thank her caregivers Princess, Kailyn, Terry and daughter-in-law Doris Gaynell Billings for the love and care they gave her along with Trellis and John at Salem Funeral Home. Please consider making a donation in her memory to the "Buddy Fund" at Ard-Vista Animal Hospital who have cared and brought back to health many abandoned animals including the canine rescues her daughter and son-in-law adopted or to Trellis which provided not only care for her but the family.
