Billie Jameson, a long-time Mississippi and Maryland resident with roots in Minnesota, died May 3, in Silver Spring, Md. She was 93.
Born Beulah Adele Skaro in Sogn, Minn., on May 14, 1928. Her parents were Oscar and Annetta, Norwegian-speaking dairy farmers. Her four siblings, who predeceased her, were Shirley, Joyce, Truman, and Arla. Billie graduated from Cannon Falls (MN) High School in May of 1945, the same month that Germany surrendered in World War II.
Imbued with a sense of adventure, Billie left the farm after finishing high school. She journeyed across the United States, working in Glacier National Park in Montana, several jobs in Southern California, and the Wigwam Resort in Goodyear, Ariz.
She met Howard Jameson, a recent Korean War veteran, at the Wigwam in 1954, and they married in 1955. They initially settled in Arizona, living in Phoenix and later in Tucson, where their first two sons, John and David, were born.
In 1959, they relocated to Howard’s home state of Mississippi where he finished his college degree in business at the University of Mississippi in Oxford. They lived in several other Mississippi communities including Winona, where son Stuart was born; Purvis, where Billie started the town’s first Kindergarten; and Grenada, where their fourth son Jeffrey was born and where Billie played the piano for the local Methodist church.
After a stint in Tupelo, the family of six settled in Eupora, where Howard established Howard Ford, a successful car dealership. Eupora became home and remained Billie’s hometown wherever Billie traveled thereafter.
In Eupora, Billie was a fulltime homemaker involved with Boy Scouts, her son’s sports, and the First Methodist Church, and was active in charitable activities for families in need. She was known for making tacos and Minnesota-tinged southern cooking, but she stayed away from the Norwegian dishes she grew up eating. She served family meals full of laughter and enough Mexican food that her sons set world records for number of tacos eaten in one sitting. She took her four sons to Minnesota every summer on Amtrak starting the year that they ranged from ten years old to eight months old. The summers in Minnesota were the high point of the year for her sons!
Howard died in 1985. When her first grandchild Walker was born in 1989, Billie left Mississippi and moved to Lexington, Ky., to assist with his care for the first six months. Later, she moved to Washington D.C. to help take care of her second newborn grandchild, Savannah. Billie lived for the next 30 years in the Leisure World senior living community in Silver Spring. She was active in Trinity Lutheran Church and the National Institute of Health where she volunteered every Wednesday for over 15 years.
She spent every Christmas with her family in Mississippi, and enjoyed getting to know dozens of John’s and Savannah’s friends in Washington at events like the one where then former VP Joe Biden and MD governor Martin O’Malley sang happy birthday for her 88th. She later said the best birthday she ever had was her 92nd when she did a Zoom call with all her grandkids and great-grandkids.
She is survived by her four sons: John Jameson of Washington, D.C.; Dr. David Jameson (Kellie) of Sumrall, Miss.; Stuart Jameson of Pittsburgh, Pa.; and Jeffrey Jameson of Starkville, Miss.; and seven grandchildren: Walker, Savannah, Taylor, David Joseph, Stuart, Allie, and Jaxson; great-grandson Brody; and great-granddaughters both named Charleigh!
Donations in Billie’s memory can be made to the Children’s Inn at The National Institute of Health where Billie volunteered for 15+ years:
The Children’s Inn at the National Institute of Health 7 West Drive, Bethesda, MD 20814
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