Billie Jean Lea

LEA, Billie Jean Boggs, 79, of Flowood, Miss., beloved by many, passed away silently early on the evening of Sunday, December 27, 2009. She was laid to rest in Ridgeland, Miss. Pallbearers were her grandsons. Ms. Lea was voted Miss Byram High and Most Intelligent by her graduation class of 1948 and served as the editor of the school's yearbook. She went on to attend Mississippi College where she earned a degree in accounting. She worked as a bookkeeper, a nursing home administrator, an instructor at Hinds Community College, a volunteer accountant for AARP, and a short stint as the American Cancer Society's Dottie the Clown. Perhaps Billie's most crowning achievement was the beautiful life she built for the family so deeply saddened by her passing. She is survived by her children, Deborah Haick (Dr. Alexander Haick), Dr. Janis Fuller (Dr. Westwood Fuller), and John Lea (Mary); her grandchildren, Ellen, Ander, and Douglas Haick, Heidi Hoover (John), Alex Stein, Kevin Stein (Courtney), Eddie Fuller, Anne Fuller, Eric Bridges (Melanie), Dana Bridges, Melanie Lea, Allison Calhoun (Josh); six great-grandchildren, Isabelle and John Perdue Hoover, John Michael and Aiden Bridges, Caydence Stein, Landon Calhoun; her brother, Bennie Boggs (Mary); and sisters, Jackie Pahnka, and Becky Tustain (Pat). She was predeceased by her parents, Minnie Lee Graves and William Hicks Boggs; and one grandson, Brent Haick. Memorial contributions may be made to the Reflections Choir or the Senior Adult Ministry of First Baptist Church of Jackson, Miss., 431 North State Street, Jackson, Miss. 39201.


This obituary was originally published in the Richmond Times-Dispatch.