"Billie" Lee Maurine
Barnett, 99, of Sterling, passed away Thursday, Sept. 22, 2011,
in Sterling. Visitation will be from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday, Sept.
23, at Tennant Funeral Home. Funeral Services will be at 2 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 24, at First Baptist Church with Pastor John
Roberts officiating. Interment will follow at Sunset Memorial
Gardens. Lee Maurine Williams was born June 22, 1912, to Ellis
Lee Williams and Maude Nourse Williams on a homestead north of
Cope. She spent her early childhood at Kirk and Joes
, where her father owned the general merchandise stores and she
spent her time whistling for customers. Her father nicknamed her
"Bill." Later the "ie" was added to the name and has stayed to
this day. She often said Maurine was her formal name. Billie
learned to shoot the basketball with the famous Joes
Boys basketball team, who in 1929 won the national championship
finals in Chicago. In 1925, the family moved to Limon where her
father owned a grocery and fabric store. Billie was the star
forward of the girls' basketball team, going to state tournament
twice. Billie graduated from Limon High School in 1930 and then
she and her mother moved to Boulder, so Billie could enroll in
the music school of University of Colorado. In 1934, she and her
mother moved to Greeley where Billie attended the then Colorado
State Teachers College, graduating in 1936 with a major in
elementary education. It was after graduation that a mutual
friend introduced Billie to her future husband, J. Lee Barnett.
Lee Maurine Williams and Jacob Lee Barnett were married Nov. 20,
1940, in Colorado Springs and set up housekeeping in Alma. Lee
was a high school teacher and basketball coach in Alma. In May
1942, they moved to Sterling and shared 64 years of marriage
together before Lee passed away in January 2005. Billie taught
kindergarten at Sexson School for 16 years and retired in 1977.
She loved the children and whistled around the school Christmas
tree and shot baskets in the gym. Her memories of the years at
Sexson were very precious. Billie received trophies for her
whistling at talent shows at the University of Colorado, and
whistled for summer concerts in the gazebo on the courthouse
square in Sterling. Billie was a very active member in the
Sterling First Baptist Church. She belonged to Delta Kappa Gamma
International Society, Daughters of the American Revolution and
Humanities Club. She is survived by her four children, Gary
Barnett of Mimbres, N.M., Thomas R. Barnett and wife Merry Anne
of Fauke, Ark., Mary Black and husband Ken of Louisville, and
Viki Elliott and husband Glenn of Reno, Nev. She is also
survived by three granddaughters, Jennifer Polland and husband
Brett of Denver, Sara Sillcox of Mammoth Lakes, Calif., and Lisa
Elliott of Austin, Texas; and one great-grandson, Simon Lee
Greene. She is also survived by two nieces, Treva Jane Koler of
Seattle, Wash., and Margaret Clark and husband Martin of
Townsend, Mont. Memorials may be made to the First Baptist
Church, Delta Kappa Gamma, or Daughters of the American
Revolution in care of Tennant Funeral Home, P.O. Box 1547,
Sterling, CO 80751. Paid Obituary