The Joys of Joey

A son was born on June 25, 1964, named Billy Joe Stevens, Jr., better known as Joey. He weighed 8.1lbs. He was a very easy child who rarely got in trouble. In fact, it was the other way around because he was the tenderhearted one who always got his feelings hurt. He always did his best to watch out for others. While on a fishing trip with Pop and Uncle Adam, he invented a new method of catching fish. He would securely hang upside down over the side of the boat with a dip net. While others threw chum, he would wait for a fish to be lured in. Once a fish was caught, he would flip the net over to throw the fish in the boat.

He got joy from helping his family. His sister, Tressa, and him would go pick flowers and put them at their mother’s doorstep. Then they would ring the doorbell and run out of sight. While hiding under the piano, they would watch their mother open the door and find the flowers. It was these small thoughtful acts of kindness that made Joey who he was.

Joey accomplished a lot in his life. After one year of college, he moved to Houston and made an independent life for himself. Since he always liked name brand clothes, he learned to cleverly shop at Goodwill. He sometimes held down three jobs to accomplish what he wanted to do. From bartending at the Summit and spilling a drink on Tom Hanks to working at the Houston Chronicle, he held various employment positions. He contributed his time at Total and Amerada Hess as well as other places. He was a strong member of the St. Jude family by attending the ACTS retreat as well as being a team member. He also brought awareness to causes that were important to him by attending events and supporting local centers.

His nieces would always look forward to his presents or his visits because they knew that he had planned something real and special for them. There was never a dull moment. Their time together was always full of laughter and fun. One time when visiting Joey in Houston, Christina and Britani needed an air mattress to sleep on, but they needed it blown up. So they drove to a car wash and used a tire pump to blow up the mattress. Now the problem was how do we get it back without it blowing out of his red pickup truck? So Christina and Britani laid on it all the way back to Joey’s house.

Joey loved anything new and different. He was always ready to try new food, plant new plants, or go to new places. With family, he was able to travel to Italy, New York, the Caribbean, and many other places. He and his sister were blessed with beautiful thick hair. While on the beach in the Caribbean with his mother and sister, the locals would holler at him, “Come here pretty boy. Let me do your hair.” So they all succumbed to the braiding. Little did they know that it would be braided too tightly. So all the way back to their room, they laughed and cried until they were able to get the braids undone. This is a story that the family constantly hears that shows his fun-filled spirit. While living in Houston, an elderly neighbor, Ruth, depended on Joey for many things from grocery shopping to taking her out to eat. Ruth accompanied Joey and his parents to Vegas. During that stay, one of Joey’s responsibilities ended up being pulling up Ruth’s girdle. This is a prime example of his willingness to do anything to lend a helping hand. Part of his caring spirit was not only for the people around him but also the animals. He had many pets in his lifetime from Olie to his present dog Zuko.

Joey will be greatly missed by his family and friends. He was an irreplaceable person in many people’s lives. He showed us the way to live by always being in the moment daring to explore anything and everything.

Survivors include his parents, Barbara and Ray Courville of Beaumont; sisters, Tressa Hinton and her husband, Billy, of Lumberton; Suzy James and her husband, Bobby, of Fannett; and Jennifer Muirhead of China; brothers, Rich Courville and his wife, Chelle, of China and Donnie Courville of Beaumont; and a number of nieces and nephews including Christina Chauvin and her husband, Bradley and Britani Hinton.

A Rosary for Mr. Stevens' will be recited at 5:00 p.m. with a gathering of his family and friends to follow until 8:00 p.m., Tuesday, October 7, 2014, at Broussard's, 1605 North Major Drive, Beaumont. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 10:00 a.m., Wednesday, October 8, 2014, at St. Jude Thaddeus Catholic Church, 6825 Gladys Avenue, Beaumont. His interment will follow at China Cemetery in China.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to St. Jude Thaddeus Catholic Church ACTS Community, 6825 Gladys Avenue, Beaumont, Texas 77706; or to the Triangle Aids Network, 1495 North 7th Street, Beaumont, Texas 77702.