Billie Massey Obituary

  Billie Darylene Massey (Billie to friends and co-workers and Darylene to family) left this world Wednesday, July 23, 2025 after a short battle with Leukemia. She left behind her beloved children, Sharold Prather; Harold Prather and spouse Jerri; John “Jay” Taylor and spouse Amy; step-daughter Angela Elder; her 4-legged son (and many would say favorite son) Rascal; several grandchildren and a handful of great-grandchildren. She is survived by her sister Mona Surginer; brother Harold Martin and spouse, Pat Martin; and brother-in-law Terry Benton and many nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents, Maxine Cooper, Harold Martin; husband Tom Massey; sisters Shirley Martin, Patty Benton and Rose Marie Martin; son-in-law Larry Pennington; and brother-in-law Pete Surginer. She was a lifetime Texan (and proud of it), having been born in Rock Springs, Texas and a resident of Hudson Oaks/Weatherford for the last 25+ years.

  Services are set for Visitation on Sunday, July 27, 2025 from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. at Galbreaith Pickard Funeral Chapel in Weatherford, Texas and a service at 10:00 a.m., on Monday, July 28, 2025. Graveside services will follow at Bethel Cemetery where she will be reunited with several loved ones who are interred and have preceded her in death. She held many jobs throughout the years, including warehouse line supervisor, prison librarian, prison guard and hotel front desk clerk (to name a few).

  Billie Darylene was a woman of many passions. She loved collecting things. Over the years it sometimes changed, but what remained constant was her collections. Over the years she has collected bells, butterflies, carousel horses, anything with birds (including hummingbirds) on it, cruise points, crystal (she was a successful Princess House representative), books (particularly Stephen King), VHS tapes, pajama sets and jewelry (to name a few). She loved to play the slot machines and had hit a few jackpots in her time, but was always chasing the Big One. She also loved Bingo and was actually pretty successful with her win/loss ratio!

  She enjoyed country music (both old and new); movies (Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile and Close Encounters of the Third Kind ranked high on the list); reading (she was a voracious reader with a love of many authors, but none as much as Stephen King with The Stand being her all-time favorite); and several TV shows including The Walking Dead, Sex in the City, True Blood, Game of Thrones and many more. To say she was eclectic would be an understatement.

 In her early years, she would say she was a dog person, but she definitely became a cat person in the last 10 years (see old dogs can learn new tricks). She had many favorite pets over the years, but her beloved Betsy and Josey were top of the list. She was always a rescuer, so no pure breeds for her. It was because of Betsy that Billie Darylene became a cat person when Betsy brought her a newborn kitten with the umbilical cord still attached. It left her with no choice but to learn how to take care of a newborn kitten by bottle-feeding it every 30 minutes and teaching it all the ways of being a cat. This is her beloved Rascal and he will miss his momma (the only momma he ever knew) very much. If you ever met Billie, she was sure to tell you about Rascal and his very long name that she could remember when she couldn’t remember the names of the children she bore (just joking mom, you only mixed our names up sometimes). I think it goes something like this…His Royal Highness Pumpkin Poo Poo Pity the Pot Rascal Debascal First of His Name Butthole.

  Billie Darylene would say she was an introvert, but you would never have known it by the way she collected friends. She will be remembered fondly by former co-workers, cruise friends and generally just anyone she met. Even though she didn’t have a filter and said pretty much anything that came to mind, she was usually right and always layered it with so much southern charm that it endeared her to many people. Her last month was spent in the hospital and the nurses routinely told me that she was everyone’s favorite and that they all petitioned to be assigned to her each shift. 

  Momma will be missed greatly by her children. The sacrifices that she made for them over the years are immeasurable and the love that she gave endless. Our world will be greatly diminished without her in it and we are forever changed both by her love and her leaving. There are a lot of great moms in the world, but to us she was the best. We could not have asked for anything more or better and we are eternally grateful that she was given to us as our mom, friend, protector, advocate and source of strength.

 Arrangements have been entrusted to Galbreaith Pickard Funeral Chapel. https://www.galbreaithpickard.com/