Mary Louise Billingsley

Mary Billingsley

Funeral services for Mrs. Mary Louise Billingsley, of Chicago, Illinois, will be held on Friday, June 14, 2019, at 11 AM, at the Saint Mark United Methodist Church, 8441 South Lawrence Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60619. Family hour will precede the service. Contact Leak and Sons at 773-846-6567 for more service information.

Mrs. Billingsley will be honored with funeral services in Atlanta, Georgia, on Wednesday, June 19, 2019, at 11 AM at the Cascade United Methodist Church, 3144 Cascade Road, Atlanta, Georgia 30311. Family hour and a celebration by her sisters of the Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Incorporated, will start at 10 AM. Interment will follow at Westview Cemetery.

IN LIEU OF FLOWERS, please make donations In Memory of Mary Louise Billingsley, Class of 1954, Morris Brown College, 643 MLK, Jr., Dr, Atlanta, Georgia, 30314.

Mary Louise Wisdom Billingsley was on born August 6, 1934, in Douglasville, Georgia, to the late Thomas and Willie Mae Cook Wisdom. The youngest of three children she was affectionately called “Teasie” by her late brother, Jimmy Lee Wisdom, Sr. and late sister, Helen Claire Wisdom Smith.

At an early age, Mary Louise joined Tranquil A.M.E. Church in Douglasville, Georgia, under Pastor A.D. Powell, and later, its affiliate Saint James A.M.E. Church.

Louise, as she liked to be called, was educated in the Douglas County School System, during the 1940’s, attending Hutcheson Elementary & High School. She was one of two salutatorians of her high school class, graduating at age fifteen in 1950.

Her parent’s Forest Avenue residence would become a second home to many of Hutcheson’s educators during the school week. It was also then that the Wisdom’s would meet Louise’s Godmother and mentor, Mrs. Gertrude L. Hubert. Mrs. Hubert stayed at their home during the school week while serving as teacher and principal of Hutcheson Elementary & High School. She and her husband, Dr. Charles E. Hubert, also on Hutcheson’s faculty were notable influences in the lives of Louise and her siblings. It was then that Louise decided to become an educator. She lived with the Hubert’s at their home in Atlanta for eight years while attending college and graduate school and was treated like their daughter. Funding for her college education was made possible through the efforts of her family, church, the Hubert’s and the Jolly Elite Social Club where Gertrude Hubert was a member.

While an undergraduate student in Atlanta, Louise was Miss Sophomore, a member of the Pre-Service Teachers Club and was initiated into Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc., Beta Chapter in 1952 where she later served as the chapter’s Basileus. In June of 1954, Louise received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Secondary Education with a field of concentration in Social Studies from Morris Brown College. She earned a Master’s Degree in Sociology in 1956 from Atlanta University.

Pursuing her passion for teaching, Louise began her career as an educator in the Atlanta Public Schools. She taught night school at Booker T. Washington High School while completing her graduate studies and joined the school’s full-time faculty. Louise’s career as an educator and administrator spanned over 45 years teaching on the high school level both in Atlanta, GA and Chicago, Illinois.

In the spring of 1956, Louise would meet her loving and devoted husband, the late Eddie Billingsley, Jr., while they were students in the Atlanta University Center. They were married February 28, 1959, by the late Reverend Samuel W. Williams in Danforth Chapel on the campus of Morehouse College. To this union, one daughter, Merryl Edrice was born. Louise and Eddie were married for 35 years at the time of Eddie’s passing in August 1994.

Very proud of her family, Louise would often have her husband and daughter accompany her to countless school programs, school sponsored trips and extramural activities. She often spoke of Eddie’s untiring support, guidance and many contacts which enabled her to help many students with job, college placement and educational assistance.

In June of 1968, after teaching in the Atlanta Public School system for thirteen years, Louise relocated to Chicago, Illinois with her young daughter and husband Eddie who accepted the position of Executive Director of the Community Renewal Foundation.

Louise’s career as an educator resumed in 1971 with the Chicago Public School System assigned to Austin High School. Six months later, she would join the faculty at Jones College Prep (formerly Jones Metropolitan High School of Business and Commerce, Jones Commercial High School, and Jones Academic Magnet). It was there where she made an indelible mark in the school’s History Department until her retirement in 1999. She also taught history several summers at Chicago’s Whitney M. Young Magnet High School after it opened in 1975. While much of her career was spent in the classroom, she was also a high school counselor.

Louise fulfilled the Chicago Board of Education’s requirements for counselor at Roosevelt University and earned more than 36 hours beyond her Master’s Degree having taken Human Relations courses sponsored by the Board of Education, studied Ethnic Minorities in the United States at Roosevelt University and Economic Education at DePaul University. She was a National Defense Education Act (NDEA) Fellow in History with special emphasis in Afro-American History. In addition she was selected in 1993 to participate in the Summer History and Literature Institute: Studying African History through Literature program at the University of Chicago.

Students will remember taking classes with Mrs. Billingsley in American Government, United States History, World History, African American History and Economics. Known for her contributions in organizing her classes to produce assemblies in February highlighting Afro-American History Month, she also served as a sponsor of the African American History Club. Her annual Afro-American History and Brotherhood Programs, stimulated, motivated and inspired Jones students through role models who were high achievers in their areas of specialization.

Her activities as a teacher were not restricted to the classroom. She sponsored many student activities focused on community awareness and the assumption of adult responsibilities. Among these activities have been the initiation and sponsorship of a biannual Voter Registration Project, a project that registered the majority of Jones students since its inception. Her dedication in registering thousands of students, especially high school seniors, became an annual ritual at the Board of Elections Commission for the City of Chicago.

In 1980, Louise was nominated for the Kate Maremont Foundation Dedicated Teachers Award of the Chicago Region PTA. In 1981 she was recognized with a Certificate of Appreciation by the District 11 Educational Council for her Voter Registration Program for students turning 18. From 1982 through 1986, her proposals earned an annual Oppenheimer Foundation grant for her Voter Registration Projects.

In 1988, Louise was one of eight recipients to receive the Phi Delta Kappa Outstanding Educator Award. In 1996 she was listed in Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers and received the Ora Higgins Youth Foundation Award in Education. In 1998 she was one of four “Outstanding Educational Finalist and selected as a finalist for the Kathy Osterman Award for Outstanding Educational Employee.

During the early 90’s she served as a team coach for Jones Metropolitan High School Students competing on Chicago’s own, “Know Your Heritage” game show series, the first, and only African American quiz show on television.

Throughout the years, Louise remained a loyal supporter of her beloved Alma Mater, Morris Brown College. As a member of the Chicago Alumni Chapter, she served as Financial Secretary. In addition, six students that she sponsored in the Chicago Inter-Alumni Council’s Annual UNCF Pageant won partial or full scholarships. These efforts were the catalyst for her receipt of the James E. Stamp Award in June 1992 from the Chicago Inter-Alumni Council of the United Negro College Fund as Alumni of the Year - Morris Brown.

She left a lasting impression with the students she taught. She was known for her dedication to teaching and her commitment to her students. Through the years, she sought to promote community involvement, good citizenship and active civic participation by her students until her retirement in 2000.

A member of several social and civic organizations in Atlanta and Chicago, Louise enjoyed attending varied social functions with her husband, daughter and friends. In Atlanta, she was member of Epsilon Zeta Chapter of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority where she served as Grammateus, the Phyllis Wheatley Branch of YWCA where she received several Sustaining Members awards, and the Etucs Bridge Club. For more than 50 years Louise was an active member of the Chicago Area Morehouse Women’s Auxiliary. These women enjoyed annual fundraising activities and camaraderie of the wives that has continued to bond this group.

Louise was quite the storyteller, and never short on words. She loved people, enjoyed the company of senior citizens and mentoring her students, who adored her. She gave of her time, talents and resources helping others. An avid bridge player, excellent cook, gardener as well as as a lover of shopping, especially through catalogs, She gave of her time, talents and resources helping others.

She leaves to cherish her memory: her loving and devoted daughter Merryl Edrice Billingsley, Sister-In-Law Geraldine Billingsley Martin; Aunt: Kate Billingsley Williams and Uncle Robert (Josephine) Billingsley; Nieces: Joyce Smith, Diane Wisdom (Melvin) Welch, Carolyn Smith Waldon, Karen Smith, Brenda Billingsley Newsome, April (David) Werkema, Angela Martin Hale, Gail (Alfred) Griffin, Patsy Billingsley, Shrerron Billingsley, Renee Billingsley; Nephews Jimmy Lee Wisdom, Jr., Artonia Martin, Jr., Gerald Martin (Shantika), Glenn (Vanessa) Martin, Michael (Audrey) Billingsley, and William Billingsley. Cousins: Arthur Lee (Toribia) Patrick, Bernadine Tinker, Charlotte Wright Dorsey, Dennis White, Brenda (Claude) Dye, and Tony (Diane) Cook, Melvin (Maronica) Tibbs, God-Daughter: Harolyn Light, God-Son: Donald (Susan) Webster; Close Childhood friend: Etoile Shropshire Holmes (Walnut Creek, CA): Hubert, Courts, Reese, DeVaughn-Smith, Webster, Fouch and Light families: Dear Friends: Deborah Fouch, Charolotte Light, M. Paulyne Morgan White, Rosalyn Heard, Mildred Kennedy, Dr. Billie Davis Gains, Vivian Purnell, Rose & Robert Johnson, Annie Miller, Geraldine Jackson, Angeline Wead: Current and former neighbors: Patricia Bouyer (Jacob), Patricia Edwards, Ronald & Terri Martin, Georgia Smith Pearson, Mary Brown, and Hayes family, and a host of relatives, loving neighbors and friends.

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Services by Dudley Funeral Home of Dublin.