Billie Mae Wind After a brief illness, Billie passed on to eternal life and home with
our Lord and Savior on April 15, 2020.

She was born April 5, 1931 in Maries County, Missouri. She was the first born
child of Esther Dale (nee’Myers) and Thomas Floyd Burgett. She was wed to
Rowland Wilmur Wind on October 27, 1951. They were married for 51 years until
Rowland’s untimely death in 2003.

She has 2 children, Jeff (Beth) Wind of Ft. Wayne, IN, and Yvonne (Kurt) Lerbs of
St. Louis, MO. Billie and Rowland also raised their nephew Dr. Micheal (Cindy)
Rush of St. Louis, MO from the age of 8, when his mother Alice, Billie’s sister, was
stricken with advanced stage breast cancer at age 36 and not expected to survive
though she too was of tough Burgett stock and survived to age 64. Micheal
lovingly refers to Billie as his second mom.

She was preceded in death by her parents, husband, and sisters Alice Roberta
Rush-Swiney, Barbara June Barr, and Bonnie Lee Burgett.

Billie graduated from Southwest High School in St. Louis, MO in 1949. She worked
for Frisco Railroad as a secretary, and then Drs. Jensen, Fink, & Shine as their
practice manager until her retirement after 40 years. Upon deciding retirement
did not agree with her work ethic, Billie became the church secretary of Prince of
Peace, UCC, where she was a founding member and part of the congregation for
over 50 years. She was an active member of Prince of Peace until her passing.

Billie was the beloved grandma of 7: Katie (Jon) Lubkert, Jeremy Wind, Geoffrey
(Julia) Ellingwood, Sarah (Anton) Clark, Samantha Lerbs, Emma Rush, and Clara
Rush. She was a proud and active spectator of and participant in their lives. She
was an adoring great grandma to 5 exceptional children: Mila, Tyler, Ayden,
Mason, & Sophia.

Billie loved traveling with friends and family. She enjoyed volunteering as an
usher for the Fox Theater. She initially started this activity with her husband
Rowland and continued for nearly 20 years before giving it up just a year or two
ago. She saw the opening acts of Wicked and Les Miserables far more than she
would have liked but loved seeing Lady GaGa and her little monsters. She enjoyed
sipping a good cup of coffee on her porch. She took great joy in planning family
birthdays and holidays.

She loved to attend Fish Fries and Sausage Dinners at various local churches with
her lifelong friends and family, most often in recent years, among a host of other
friends! She loved her friends and family dearly as well as her visits with/from
peripheral family by choice, which were especially treasured.

She loved a great piece of chocolate as well as sipping a frozen margarita with
friends and family and was never more fun than when a little tipsy! Her waffles
for family brunches were legendary! She was kindness and compassion rolled into
one. Billie was able to make everyone feel welcomed and part of her family.
Discipline was not her role as grandma or great grandma. She was there to love,
support & watch her beloved family grow and she delighted in being called upon
occasionally to assist in the care of the children at various stages of their lives,
most recently Sophia once a week.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Prince of Peace
UCC, 4966 Towne South Rd, St. Louis, MO 63128. An
opportunity to gather for a celebration will be planned for a
future date. This obituary will be updated with those arrangements once
available. She will ultimately be interred with her husband Rowland at the
Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery. We are waiting for some semblance of
normal to return so that these events may be conducted safely and those who
loved her can truly be together and celebrate her life with the degree of joy and
togetherness appropriate to such a treasured Matriarch to her family and to such
a treasured friend to all who knew her.

The light of all of our lives now shines down upon us from her place in Heaven
with our Lord and Savior. We give thanks for a life well lived, and we will feel her
untimely and devastating loss until we are able to embrace her and all those we
love once again. Until then, that light keeps us warm and warms our hearts as we
remember her.