Billie Younger Connell
Billie Younger Connell, age 93, passed away on January 14, 2024, surrounded by family.
She was born in Big Spring, Texas on May 4, 1930, and was the eldest of Bill and Verlyne Younger’s three children. Billie’s childhood was significantly impacted by the Great Depression and the subsequent Dust Bowl that ravaged her west Texas town. She attended Big Spring High School and completed one year at Baylor University in Waco, Texas.
She married and raised 2 of her children, Mary Lynn and Steve in Big Spring. In 1963, she moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico, to continue her job as a secretary for Fina Oil Company, where she trained many of the men who held higher positions than her own. Her daughter, Amy, was born in Albuquerque. Billie worked two jobs and put herself through college, graduating with honors from the University of New Mexico in 1970. She earned her degree in elementary education as a single mother at 40 years of age – one of her proudest accomplishments.
Billie worked as a second-grade teacher at Onate Elementary. Upon her retirement, she became active in Bible Study Fellowship and met a group of 7 women who became the best of friends.
Billie and her husband, Gene Connell, married in 1972 and enjoyed traveling, camping, and collecting art and antiques. She was an excellent seamstress who made many cherished items for her grandchildren. Upon being widowed in 1998, she became active with the Assistance League of Albuquerque as a member of several committees, ultimately serving as President. In 2011, she unselfishly left her beloved friends and home in New Mexico and moved across the country to Chattanooga to be near family.
One of the most common things said about Billie by those who knew her is that she was “a special lady.” She was known for her calm and generous spirit, bright smile, and fierce love for her family. Billie often encouraged her loved ones that “pretty is as pretty does.” Those who had the privilege to know her know that she embodied this perfectly. She was beautiful – inside, and out. Billie is now resting in heaven, where she will forever have a glorified body; where sickness is no more, and healing is eternal.
Billie was preceded in death by her parents, her husband Gene Connell, her son Steve McClure, and grandson Stephen Perkins. She is survived by her daughters, Mary Lynn (Bob) Perkins of Irving, TX, and Amy (AJ) Monsees of Chattanooga, TN; Gene's children, Charles (Joann) Connell, Julia Horton, Eileen Weber, Linda Kaiser, and Elizabeth Connell; their children and grandchildren; granddaughters Emily (Noel) Janacek of Louisville, TX, Sarah Duncan of McKinney, TX, Rebecca (Jojo) Pfahler of Pilot Point, TX, and Rachel (Russ) Harwood of Signal Mountain, TN; grandson Evan Monsees of Chattanooga, TN; great grandchildren Katie and Laura Duncan of McKinney, TX, and Shane, Troy, Bo and Gus Janacek of Louisville, TX; sister, Maxie Scott of Austin, TX, and brother, Jerry Younger (Nancy) of Boston, MA.
A celebration of Billie’s life will be held at Hixson Presbyterian Church, 1450 Jackson Mill Drive, Hixson, on Feb. 10. There will be a visitation from 10 a.m. until noon, and a service beginning at 12 p.m. She will be buried with her husband at the Santa Fe National Cemetery in New Mexico.
Donations in her name may be made to the Assistance League of Albuquerque, PO Box 35910, Albuquerque, NM 87176-5910 or www.assistanceleague.org/albuquerque/ways-to-donate/