Memorial service for Billie Marie Penn will be 5:00 p.m., Friday, February 23, 2018 at Grace Fellowship Church with Pastor Josh Trueblood officiating.

Billie passed away peacefully in her home on Sunday, February 18 at the age of 78. Private family burial will be in Highland Cemetery under direction of Becker-Rabon Funeral Home.

Billie was born in Marlin, Texas, September 12, 1939 to Hardy and Eva Suggs. Her parents were very musical and Billie grew up helping out at Hardy Suggs Music Company in old downtown Lawton. She attended Wilson Elementary, Lawton Junior High and was in the Lawton High band. She took classical piano for 12 years and eventually taught herself to play by ear. Her piano abilities led to many years as a piano teacher and as the organist and pianist at Grace Fellowship Church.

After graduating from Lawton High in 1957 she attended the University of Oklahoma majoring in secretarial science. She met Bill on a blind date at a fraternity dance and they immediately fell in love. They were married a year later in 1959 and lived in Norman and Billie worked at Tinker AFB while Bill finished his journalism degree.

They moved to Hereford, Texas where she worked as secretary of the Deaf Smith Electric Cooperative. It was in Hereford that she had a life-changing conversion and accepted Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior. She was a devoted and serving Christian the rest of her life putting others ahead of herself. While in Hereford their daughter Allison Ann was born. A change in jobs took them to Olney, Texas where she put her piano teaching skills to use. In Olney their son Zed was born.

Life took the family to several locations including Canyon, Texas, Cal Farley's Boys Ranch, Texas, Yuma Arizona, Throckmorton, Texas and Denton Texas, finally settling in Lawton in 1979.

Billie loved to sing and the family had a quartet and called themselves "From A to Z". She worked for a while at Lawton Christian School and had a private piano studio. She also briefly sold real estate before she found her niche in life as field representative for U.S. Senator Don Nickles. Her 18 years with Nickles took her consistently to 12 SW Oklahoma counties where she regularly made speeches, visited with constituents and helped with their federal problems. She was well known as a "fixer". She loved to meet and serve people and help them with their issues regardless of their political affiliation. She was lovingly known by many as "Senator Billie". She was very active with the Lawton Chamber of Commerce and was a member of the Red Coats. She was named Churchwoman of 2004 by the DAR.

Upon retirement she spent several years as a volunteer with the Pregnancy Resource Center and served as the secretary of their board.

She was a devoted wife, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. She is preceded in death by her parents, her son-in-law, Doug Yates and her sister Lynda Jack.

She is survived by her husband of the home, her daughter Allison Yates of Elgin, OK and son Zed and Rose Penn of Kingwood, TX, grandchildren Alyssa and husband Jose Rodriguez and great-grandbaby Lucy Rose of Oklahoma City, SkyIr Yates of Elgin, Nathaniel Penn of Norman and Ashlin Penn of Kingwood, many nieces, nephews and many friends.

A tribute by Senator Nickles was made to her and entered in the Congressional Record on Tuesday, May 1, 2001 which read in part, "Billie is a true friend and a real treasure. I am grateful for her outstanding service to the people of Oklahoma. We all have benefited from her hard work."

Memorial gifts may be made to Grace Fellowship Church.