On Sept 21 the world lost an angel. But God gained one. Billie Rae Bilbo Light was born in El Paso on November 15, 1929; the elder child of Kathryn Spence and Raymond Winston Bilbo. Her early years were spent near Jicarilla and Roswell, New Mexico before the family moved to the Callaghan Ranch, outside of Encinal. She graduated from Cotulla High School in 1946. She went on to attend Sul Ross, from which she received her teacher’s certification. She enjoyed her time there and made many friends, all under the watchful eye of her fellow student and college roommate – her mother. Billie Rae then returned to the Callaghan to teach school in Encinal.
It was at this point that George E Light III, a former high school classmate, began his pursuit of the woman he would spend the next seven decades with. The two were married April 8, 1950. Their first child, George Emmett Light IV, was born the following year. He was followed by Gary Ray Light, and Sarah Kathryn Light.
Billie Rae was a member of many organizations, and all benefited from her tireless efforts and support. Because of her children’s natural inclination towards rodeo she was involved in the Texas Youth Rodeo Association, and even designed its logo. She went on to volunteer at the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo for decades. Her dedication was evident when, after breaking an arm and several ribs, she went against doctor’s orders and showed up for work, refusing a wheelchair, but grudgingly accepting a sling for her arm.
Billie Rae moved numerous times during her life, and everywhere she went, her faith in God led her to be an active member of the local Methodist church.
After God and family, Billie Rae’s other great love was hunting. And a lifetime spent on the ranch made her very proficient. While pregnant with her first child, she killed a monstrous bull elk in New Mexico; handily showing up the male hunters on the trip. She went on to add numerous trophy whitetail to her tally. Some would be content to be proficient with a rifle, but Billie Rae was also a champion pigeon shooter. She passed on her love of hunting – if not always her accuracy – to her grandchildren, who she often took into the field in her trusty gray Town Car.
Her love of nature, and every animal in it, is legendary. Billie Rae never met a stray animal she didn’t adopt. During her life, she saved cats and dogs too numerous to mention. But it was her more exotic pets that everyone remembers. She raised two bobcats, a (mostly) descented skunk, a pair of javelinas, a baby badger, a ground squirrel, and a cottontail. Not to mention many “pet” deer.
Billie Rae is survived by George, her husband of 68 years; as well as George Emmett and Cordelia Kincaid Light, Gary Ray and Molly Mollenhoff Light, and Sarah Kathryn and Phillip Morris Lyne. She was blessed with seven grandchildren, and eleven (soon to be twelve) great-grandchildren. By any measurement, hers was a life well lived. She touched many lives. She will not soon be forgotten. She will always be missed.
Visitation was held Monday, September 24, 2018 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm Hurley Funeral Home, Lytle, Texas. Memorial Service was held Tuesday, September 25, 2018 11:30 am First United Methodist Church, Cotulla, Texas.
For those who wish to honor her memory through memorials, the family has requested memorials be made to the First United Methodist Church in Cotulla or Charity of One’s Choice.
Arrangements are under the direction of Hurley Funeral Home, 14822 Main Street, Lytle, Texas 78052, (830) 709-0698.