Billy Jo Oliver, born Billy Jo Eldridge in Pineland, Texas, on August 2, 1921, passed away September 15, 2010. Born to parents Albert A. Eldridge and Emma Lois Brantley (of the Hardeman family, who had been active in the Texas Revolution in 1836), she was a 1938 graduate of Beaumont High School. In 1943 she married Wade Ernest Oliver, born in McLennan County,Texas, and, from 1963, she worked over 25 years at Lamar State Bank, now Midsouth, in South Park. From 1927 until her death she lived in the house on Euclid Street in Beaumont, passed on to her by her family.
She was preceded in death by her husband in 1975, and by her siblings, Brantley Eldridge and Dixie Eldridge Prins. She is survived by her two children, Donna McMinn of Jacksonville, North Carolina, and Gary Oliver of Marfa, Texas; by her grandchildren, Peter, Paul, James, and Daniel McMinn; and by her great-grandchildren, Cameron, Kelsey, Kendall, Sam, and Sidney McMinn.
She had a great and giving heart, and will be missed by all who knew and loved her.
A committal of Billy Jo’s cremated body will be 10:00 a.m., Friday, September 24, 2010, at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, under the direction of Broussard’s, 2000 McFaddin, Beaumont.
Memorial contributions may be made to St. Paul’s United Methodist Church, 4445 Pershing Beaumont, Texas 77705.
