Billy Rex Harper, Jr.

Graveside services for Billy Rex Harper, Jr., 76, of Ringgold, will be held Saturday, March 16, 2024 at 2 p.m. in Pleasant Grove Cemetery in Ringgold.

Visitation will be at Rockett Funeral Home, 2438 Military Road in Ringgold, from 10 a.m. until service time, Saturday, March 16, 2024.

Billy Rex was born June 9, 1947, in Fort Jackson, South Carolina, while his dad was serving in the United States Army. He passed away at his home in Ringgold on March 8, 2024. He lived with his family in California for a short stent before they all moved back to the family farm in Ringgold.

Billy Rex was a 1965 graduate of Ringgold High School, attended Centenary College for one and a half years and was a 1973 graduate of Louisiana Tech University. In between the two colleges, he worked as a bookkeeper for Arkla Gas Company.

AftergraduatingLouisiana Tech, he taught at Gibsland Coleman High School and Ringgold High School. Billy Rex decided to go back to school and become an attorney after teaching. He was a 1987 graduate of Louisiana State University Law School in Baton Rouge. Billy Rex practiced law in Arcadia for over twenty years before moving back to the family home place in Ringgold. He went back to teaching for a few years before deciding to enjoy life on the farm.

He was a member of Jamestown Primitive Baptist Church and had a special connection to Ringgold First United Pentecostal Church. He spent his last years enjoying life and spending time with his brother, other family and friends before his health started to decline.

Billy Rex was preceded in death by his parents, Billy Rex Harper, Sr., and Beatrice Castor Harper.

Left to cherish his memories include his daughters, Lisa Villalobos of San Marcos, Texas, Sheri Harper of Orlando, Florida and Rebecca Castillo and her husband Miguel of Schertz, Texas; brother, Dr. Robert (Gene) Harper and his wife Mary A. Harper of Ringgold; grandchildren, Malik Elosta, Sakeenah Elosta, Muhammad Elosta, Ahmed Elosta, Rhianne Elosta, Alayna Harper, Miles MacAbee and Sophie Castillo; nephews, John A Harper and wife Amberly of Princeton, Texas, and Benjamin Lee Harper of Byron, Michigan; special friends, Lamar Rowell and Jimmy Evans and a number of other relatives and friends and his beloved dog, FieFie.