of Memphis, TN

February 4, 1931 - March 8, 2019

BILLINGS, PAUL BARRETT, age 88 of Osceola, Arkansas, went to be with the Lord on Friday, March 8, 2019. He was preceded in death by his mother, Bessie Barrett Billings, his father, Paul Alexander Billings, and two sons, B Welby Alexander Billings (Laura Beth Calvert) and Bradford Young Billings. He is survived by his wife of over 61 years, Karen Young Billings, his son, Paul Barrett Billings, Jr. (Lee) of Memphis, TN, four grandchildren, Sarah Caroline Billings of New York, NY, Benjamin Lawrence Billings of San Angelo, TX, Paul Barrett Billings, III (Stephanie) of Washington, D.C. and Lane Torrence Billings of Austin, TX, and two great grandchildren, Emma Caroline Billings and Ainsley Elizabeth Billings of Washington, DC. Paul was a 1949 graduate of Shades Cahaba High School where he starred on the football and baseball teams. He accepted a scholarship to play football at Vanderbilt University, playing offensive and defensive tackle. His Vanderbilt football teams never had a losing record and never lost to Alabama. A member of the Beta Theta Pi fraternity, he became known as "Punjab" to his friends. After his playing days ended, he coached the offensive line of the Vanderbilt freshman football team for a year and was then inducted into the U.S. Army as a 1st Lieutenant, where he served in the armored division based in Germany. During his 2 years in the Army, he improved his trigonometry skills plotting artillery trajectories, coached the base football team to an armored division championship, and won enough money playing poker during weekend leave to pay for his first car, a canary yellow MG. Upon returning to the US, he passed the trigonometry classes that had befuddled him before the service and received his B.A. from Vanderbilt in 1956. He met and married the love of his life, Karen Young of Osceola, in 1957. Sons Paul Jr., B Welby and Brad followed in 1958, 1959 and 1963. Paul first worked for the Gaylord Box division of the Crown Zellerbach Corporation as a salesman and subsequently accepted a position with Osceola Foods, Inc. as Sales Manager in 1962, eventually becoming President in 1965. He served as President of the National Association of Margarine Manufacturers and on the board of directors of Planters Bank of Osceola and Grains Jamaica Ltd., of Montego Bay. He was also a member of the First Christian Church in Osceola, where he faithfully attended for over 50 years. In retirement, Paul loved going to Vanderbilt football games with Karen and his Vanderbilt buddies, vacationing in Naples, FL every winter, and playing golf at Riverlawn and Blytheville Country Clubs. He told his grandchildren to call him "Mister Grandfather Sir", which they invariably shortened to "Mister.'' He loved the Lord and his family deeply, and he and Mimi told "50 stories from the 50's" to his children and grandchildren often. He was a ''Vanderbilt Man'' and a gentleman until his death. He lived by the Golden Rule and the adage that ''luck is where opportunity and preparation meet.'' A celebration of Paul's life will be held at First Christian Church in Osceola, Arkansas, at 2 p.m. on March 21, 2019, with his grandson, Paul Barrett Billings, III, officiating.

Sign Guestbook

3 Condolence(s)