Eldon’s Obituary Eldon Billings Memorial services for Eldon Clifton Billings, 89, of Fitzhugh are 2:00 p.m. Friday at the Fitzhugh Baptist Church, Rev. Steve Wilburn will officiate. Mr. Billings passed away Thursday, February 28, 2019 at his home.
Eldon Billings, beloved husband to Janet, father to Patricia and Clifton, step-father to Susan, Beth and Gilbert, was the last of five children born to Clifton and Dollie Billings. It was the fall of 1929, year of the great stock market crash preceding the Great Depression. Although the family was originally from Arkansas, they had moved to Texas for work.
He was born at home November 2, but the doctor didn’t get there for two days. So, his birth certificate gives a birth date of November 4. Sometime the following year the family moved north to Oklahoma.
They lived in the Prague and Shawnee areas. His dad farmed cotton and taught school. Eldon often told of how he used to take a short cut walking to school through a neighbor’s pasture until the neighbor’s bull chased him under a fence.
That was at Center View. The school is gone now, all that is left is the old storm shelter. Eldon loved to tell how his mom kept a cow, chickens and a garden.
And of how, on Saturday, Dollie would take her cream and eggs to town to trade for staples she couldn’t grow. He would get a nickle to go see a cowboy movie at a theater in downtown Shawnee while she shopped. World War II began when Eldon was twelve.
The world changed and his world with it. His dad worked for the war effort in the bay area ship yards of California. In Richmond where they lived, Dollie told how she could hear the fog horn “baying” all night long.
She got a job at the soda fountain in a local drug store. His sisters and brothers had left home, but were living nearby. Wendell got drafted into the Army.
Lindell farmed. Lillian joined the women’s branch of the Coast Guard. Inez welded in the ship yards.
Eldon got a jog at a food market. During the war many things were rationed. Included in those rationed items were anything with sugar.
Working at the grocery, Eldon got first opportunity for soda pop and candy. He never lost his sweet tooth. At the end of the war, the family stayed in California, but moved inland away from the coast.
They settled in Ceres. Eldon graduated from Ceres High School. He returned briefly to Oklahoma to attend Oklahoma State University, but home sickness took him back home.
He married and raised a family. Daughter Patricia Ann was born in his early twenties. She inherited his curly hair and charming manner.
In his thirties was born son, Clifton Fred, named after his grandpa. Cliff got his dad’s love of cars and Cowboy football. Eldon was also dad to two step-daughters, Susan and Beth, and step-son, Gilbert.
Over the years Eldon held many jobs. The job he liked the most was working for Standard Oil Company where he worked up to be manager. In those days, being a gas station attendant meant that he filled the car with gas, checked under the hood for oil and water levels, checked the air pressure in the tires, and washed the windshields.
While at the Merced, California downtown station, Eldon said he met Martin Luther King. His longest held job was managing his brother Lindell’s business at Lucky Motors in Ceres. Eldon traveled as many miles sight-seeing as he could cover on his time off.
One of his favorite places to go was the old gold mining towns in the foothills of the Sierras. When time allowed he’d go to Fallon, Nevada. They grow wonderful cantaloupe there.
Sometimes the kids enjoyed the trip and sometimes they didn’t Grandkids would sometimes join the road trip, never fancy just going where the inclination took him. He loved reading maps and atlases and quote population figures like a quiz champion. When the kids were in school, Eldon always went to the ball games.
Cliff played football and Susan played in the band. Next to Ceres High School his favorite football team was the Dallas Cowboys. He and Cliff even met Don Meredith (after retirement) in an elevator at a game.
Some of the joys of life are grandkids. Patty had two boys and Cliff a girl. Going to the lake for a picnic was always fun with the kids.
But kids keep growing up and along came eleven great-grandchildren and two great-great grandkids. He retired at age 62. After the death of his mother in 1992, he moved back to Oklahoma.
Eldon and wife Janet established their home in Fitzhugh in 1993. In 2018, they celebrated their 45th wedding anniversary. Their great sadness was the early death of daughter Pat.
He became a member of the First Baptist Church, Fitzhugh, and sang in the choir for several years. As a member of the Fitzhugh Town Council, he was instrumental in writing the first grant for the town’s storm shelter. Eldon was also a member of the Kiwanis Club of Ada.
Survivors include his wife, Janet, of the home; a son, Clifton Billings of Modesto, CA; step-children, Susan Pendell and husband Brian of Gardner, SC, Beth Tiffin and husband Doug of Modesto, CA and Gilbert Borhardt, Salida, CA; three grandchildren, Phillip Moore, Brandon Streng and Roxanne Fuller; 11 great-grandchildren; and two great-great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents; his daughter, Patricia Billings; two sisters, Inez Holt and Lillian Dohney; and two brothers, Lindell Billings and Wendell Billings.
If you found any mistakes, or you would like to add/remove to this obituary, please contact us by email: info@obituary.memorial. We never ask money for this.
