When Mrs. Billie Brand’s family moved here from Texas and decided to stay in Mississippi, folks in Texas could not believe they liked Mississippi better! They had lived in Waco until her father became Manager of American National Insurance in Meridian. She was born Billie Ruth Westbrooks on August 30, 1938, to William Hampton Westbrooks and wife Mary Ruth Smith Westbrooks, both of whom are deceased. Billie’s brother, James Hampton Westbrooks, still lives in Dallas with wife Nancy and two children.
Billie was about eight years old when they made the move. A nine-year-old during VBS at Fifteenth Avenue Baptist Church in Meridian, she made her decision to accept Christ as her Saviour. She declared, “I did understand, and I never doubted my salvation!” Thank God for churches where children were saved and stayed saved for many years!
Originally from Hickory, William Troy Brand, Jr., was born September 24, 1937. His parents were William Troy Brand, Sr., and Jewel H. Gibson Brand, who owned a grocery store in Hickory. He had two sisters Mary Brand Oglesbee and Mollie Brand Brooks. His father, a deacon, took the family to Hickory Baptist Church where one Sunday morning, Troy, at eight or ten years old, walked forward to be saved. He’s been active in that Hickory church all these years since then.
Troy graduated Hickory High School in 1955 with honors, and Billie graduated Meridian High School in 1956, with highest honors. They met when she was a senior at Mississippi College in Clinton. Troy finished Mississippi State University in 1959 with a degree in Business, while Billie earned her degree in Elementary Education in 1960, each finishing their degrees in 3½ years. Troy has always lived in Hickory and remembered meeting his best friend Johnny Biggs in the nursery at church. He and his wife Joyce Sims Biggs, Billie’s best friend, got the Brands together. Troy and Billie were married March 6, 1960. Ms. Billie told me of having wonderful inlaws, Papaw and Mamaw Brand, as she learned to call them.
Ms. Billie only got to teach one year before beginning their family. She had no relatives able to help with the children, and back then there were no public day care facilities. William Troy (Bill) Brand, III, was born in 1961, David Barry Brand in 1964, Suzanne, adopted in 1967 at three weeks old, and Patricia, who was about sixteen in 1970 when she came to live with the Brands after her grandmother’s death.
Bill and wife Rhonda Ethridge Brand’s children are William Troy (Will) Brand, IV, and Jera Ruth Brand. Barry Brand and wife Lynn Cole Brand had Catherine, David, and Matthew. Daughter Suzanne Brand Ross is married to Pat Ross, and their children are Patrick, Westbrooks, and Hampton. The Brands’ foster daughter Patricia Brown,is married to Joe Clark. Their children are Andy, Aaron, and Betsy, and they live in Chunky. The four children have given the senior Brands eleven grandchildren, and seventeen great-grandchildren!
Stacey Cook told me of how through the years, for the Brands’ grandchildren and great-grandchildren, Ms. Billie would prepare every Monday to be Cousins’ Day at their home. The children would get off the schoolbus, where she fed and entertained them with games and activities.
Next week will continue the testimonies of Mr. Troy and Ms. Billie Brand of Hickory, and of their Christian influence in the church and community.
People get ready, Jesus is coming soon!
You may contact me at lagnesrussell@gmail.com or 601-635-3282.
