Billy D. Bevard's Obituary
Billy Bevard Obituary
Born July 17, 1941 in, Tulsa, Oklahoma, Billy Don Bevard was the eldest of three children born to Richard and Mary (Genoff) Bevard. Spending most of his early childhood on his grandfather's farm, Genoff Produce, Billy enjoyed watching and learning all aspects of life on the farm. Once old enough, he especially liked riding with his grandfather, Tony Genoff, to market with a load of produce. Tony, Billy, and the entire family, had a special relationship with the vendors, most of which were Bulgarian - as that was the beginning of Tony's roots.Once Billy started to school, he and his siblings would ride the bus. Billy was small in stature and their bus driver, T.J. Shimp, would let him sit on the heater box and work the stop sign. He really enjoyed this responsibility and enjoyed attending school where he excelled in academics. Billy would become a graduate of Bixby High School, in 1959, where he was the Class Salutatorian. Upon graduation, Billy enlisted in the United States Air Force where he received his basic military training at Lackland AFB. Part of his training included receiving assignments based upon the results of the 2DAT enlistment test. Those results first sent Billy to train as a radar mechanical technician. Following just one week of schooling, Billy was scheduled to report to school personnel because someone noticed he was colorblind. He then selected a new school to attend. His choice was to pursue aircraft and missile maintenance which meant a move to Shepard AFB, Texas. Billy remained close to his friends at Lackland, and through some of those friends, he met a young lady, Cholette Britt. The two would eventually marry and were able to celebrate 57 years of marriage together before she preceded Billy in death on October 14, 2018.Billy's original plan was to serve four years and then to return to civilian life and purse his education. He quickly discovered that he really enjoyed being in the Air Force and therefore, continued serving our country. Billy spent two tours in Vietnam and he traveled to several countries including: Saigon, Hong Kong, New Delhi, South America, Europe and India. He retired as a flight engineer after a 21-year career. During retirement, Billy attended the Spartan School of Aeronautics and received an Air Frame and Power Plant certificate, where he became an instructor and eventually the registrar. Billy continued his education earning an associate degree in Aviation Maintenance, a bachelor's degree in Management of Human Resources, and a master's degree in College Teaching. Throughout their years together, Billy and Cholette enjoyed traveling together - especially visiting places with vintage airplanes. Billy is survived by: his two daughters, Elizabeth Lane and Laura Norton and her husband, Steve; a sister, Sharon Bevard; four grandchildren and 6 great grandchildren.He was preceded in death by: his wife, Cholette in October 2018 and his brother, Ronnie on December 31, 1999.Service RiverCrest Chapel 13329 S. Memorial Dr. Bixby, Oklahoma 74008 10:00 AM
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