Grandma Billie Jean Beach Obituary
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| Billie Jean Beach Gravesite and headstone located at Mount Morrison Cemetery, Mono County, California, USA. |
Billie Jean was also preceded in death by Gwynn Norgarrd whom she was raised with and considered a sister. The two girls grew up as sisters on Billie Jean’s family ranch "Dairy Mart Farms," in San Ysidro, California. Her father, Harold Grey, acquired the ranch after working for the previous owner for a number of years. He was very prosperous and Billie Jean and her family had a comfortable life. Both she and "Gwynny'' spent time riding and performing with horses. Billie Jean was also a trained and talented dancer in her youth. She dreamed of becoming a dancer in "Old Hollywood '' as she lived during the golden age of musicals in California. As an adult, she loved watching and sharing with her family the musicals of the 1950's starring Doris Day, Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds, Fred Astaire, Judy Garland, and more. She also became an avid board and card game player and spent many hours playing with family, grandchildren, friends and anyone else who would be a willing victim. Some of her specialties were Rummykub, and Phase 10.
With Leonard, Billie Jean lived alternately during the year in Pine Valley of San Diego County, Gabbs, Nevada, and McGee Creek Campground outside of Mammoth California. She and Leonard were the beloved campground hosts of the McGee Creek Campground and RV Park in the summers and welcomed new and returning campers each year, making many dear friends as they did so. She kept an address book filled with hundreds of family and friends whom she kept in touch with by writing letters, and making phone calls. Many happy memories of family reunions, camping holidays, and grandchildren retreats were spent in and around McGee Creek and Mammoth California as her children and grandchildren grew. Billie Jean and Leonard also cultivated a love of their faith in Jesus Christ and grew a wonderful support system of friends in their church congregation. They were faithful members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and were actively involved in serving in many different ways until their deaths.
Billie Jean was a loving grandmother and, along with her mother Gladys, was known for her handmade porcelain dolls, which they lovingly cast in molds, fired, painted and sewed the clothing for and gave to each of her grand-daughters. She also made stick horses for each grandchild, sewing the heads out of unique fabric and stitching in yarn-hair for their manes. Each grandchild also received a "memory book" from Billie Jean when they turned 8 years old. It was a binder covered in fabric and ornate lace or other items with pockets for photos and other memories to be inserted as they grew up. Billie Jean didn't just make crafts for others, she was also an avid doll and teddy-bear collector. She had a room in her Gabbs, NV home titled "The Doll Room," which was considered either a dream come true or a nightmare depending on the point of view of the guest (usually grandchildren) who slept there. In it, she kept her homemade porcelain dolls, Barbie Doll collection, other dolls, teddy bear collection, and more displayed around the room on shelves and dressers surrounding the guest bed (also appropriately set with dolls and bears). Billie Jean also consistently sent her grandchildren birthday cards each year filled with small trinkets such as cash, stickers, gum, etc. She and Leonard traveled to visit their children and grandchildren often and their children and grandchildren were often found visiting them in Pine Valley or McGee Creek over the years for family reunions, or just holidays.
After the passing of her husband in 1996, Billie Jean and her mother Gladys lived and traveled together. She continued to be the campground host and scheduler for McGee Creek for several years after Leonard passed, and Gladys was her trusty companion who was in relatively excellent health for much of her life, but whom she cared for as her deteriorating age left her unable to hear. Gladys and Billie Jean also traveled on cruises to many destinations during those years together until Gladys’ death in 2002. In the early 2000's Billie Jean was no longer able to continue her role at the campground and entered retirement where she alternated living with her children and ultimately ended up living near or with family in Fallon, NV and then Mesa, AZ in her final years.
Billie Jean passed away on June 23, 2015 in Brookdale assisted living home, Mesa, Arizona,USA at the age of 87. She is survived by her 4 living children, her grandchildren and great-grand-children. Services were held for her in Mesa, AZ and Mammoth, CA and she was cremated and placed with her sweetheart, Leonard in the Mount Morrison Cemetery in Mono County, CA, just outside of Mammoth, California near their dear McGee Creek Campground.
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