Billie Louise Gladney Donnell

Billie Louise Gladney Donnell was called home by our Heavenly Father on August 31, 2022.  A memorial service is scheduled for 11 o’clock in the morning on Saturday, September 3, 2022 at First Presbyterian Church with Pastor Janell Blair, officiating.  A private family graveside will be held at the Dumas Cemetery under the direction of Beeson ~ Morrison Funeral Directors. 

Billie was born on July 5, 1929, in Louisville, MS to Nannie Permenter and W.F. “Will” Gladney. She grew up all over the delta country, attending schools in Mississippi, Alabama, and Arkansas due to her father being a sawmiller. She graduated from Louisville Mississippi High School and continued her education in business at East Central Junior College in Mississippi. She and her mother moved to Dumas in 1947 after the death of her father. Billie met and later married H.D. “Dawson” Donnell on August 31, 1950. She passed away on what would have been their 72nd wedding anniversary.

Her early employment was with the North Plains Telephone Company of Dumas, but after the birth of her second child, she went to work at the Moore County Tax Office, where she worked for thirty years. She became a Certified Tax Assessor Collector in 1978 and served as the Moore County Tax Assessor Collector from 1980 until her retirement in December 1988.

Billie was a member of the First Presbyterian Church of Dumas, where she worshiped since 1949. She served the church as an elder, active committee member and treasurer. She was a past member of Business and Professional Women’s Club, holding a variety of offices. She loved to read, cook, dance, and play dominoes, but her favorite pastime was being with her family, especially her granddaughter Michaela.

She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband and her infant daughter, Phyllis Kay Donnell, sisters: Ocie Thompson, Mary Dorough and Jean Lawrence. She is survived by one daughter, Marietta Reynolds, and husband Scott, and one granddaughter, Michaela Reynolds.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations be made to: First Presbyterian Church Youth Fund P.O. Box 1118 Dumas, Tx. 79029, or St. Jude Children's Research Hospital 501 St. Jude Place Memphis, TN 38105.