In Loving Memory of Billie Rose Lichti
May 22, 1937 - April 8, 2023
Born in Chickasha, Okla. Resided in Carlotta, Calif.

It is with heavy hearts that we announce the passing of Billie Rose Lichti, who peacefully passed away at the age of 85, on the early morning of Saturday, April 8, 2023. She passed in her sleep while holding her daughter’s hand. Billie’s life began in Chickasha, Oklahoma, in 1937, of Chickasaw Indian heritage and one of six children born to Maxwell and Geneva Williams. Billie moved to California during the Great Dust Bowl in 1938. She could tell some great stories about their trek out west. They settled in the central valley of California and lived the farm life. Billie, as most young folks did in those days, picked her share of cotton. She attended high school in Arvin, California, where she met Jim Clark, a senior to her freshman. They married before Billie graduated in 1953. Their first child, Denise Doreen also arrived in 1953. Jimmy LeRoy came in 1955 and Wallace Farrell came 13 months later in 1956. Their youngest, Darren Sue (aka Sam) joined the family in 1959.

Billie moved to the San Francisco Bay Area and married Ted Lichti in 1975, inheriting his two children: son Bruce and daughter Rocky. Billie helped Ted run Wilsons Hardware and an apartment complex he owned in Pittsburg. Billie worked right alongside Ted from 1975-1983 . They sold everything and moved to Humboldt County in 1983. They opened Country Cousins Hardware in Carlotta in 1984 and closed it in 1988 to work on opening a restaurant. They purchased an old VFW Hall out on Highway 36. Billie worked with Ted to renovate the old hall, later opening Pepperwood Falls Country Inn in 1992. Billie served some of the best Prime Rib in Humboldt County. The locals loved that they could get their own beers out of the fridge and pay on the honor system. It was a place to eat, meet up with friends for some pool, or to attend a dance or a wedding. Pepperwood Falls closed in 1996 after Billie’s health began to fail. In 1998, Sam and her husband Lenny, along with their two daughters, moved to Humboldt County to help with both the care of Billie, and the continued renovations of the VFW hall, which had become a large family home. Billie and Ted hosted many parties, family reunions, and weddings for family and friends over the years. It was a sad time for everyone when Billie could no longer play the role of hostess that had given her so much joy and pleasure over the years.

Billie loved to play Bingo and play the slots and had more wins than anyone. She loved annual trips to the horse races, where the winning continued. She loved to play Mexican train with the family, and cribbage. She and Ted played cribbage every day on the same cribbage board. She once had a perfect score of 29! She loved to watch The Price is Right, so the family learned to keep their phone calls to either before or after the show. Billie was a fantastic candy maker, baker, and cook. No one made a better pineapple upside-down cake than her. She had a very close relationship with her son-in-law Lenny and she made more of those cakes for him than could be counted. She always said she bet she was the only mother-in-law whose son-in-law told her he loved her at the end of every phone call. She was generous to a fault and had a heart for helping those in need: family, friend or stranger. Billie was, for a time, a member of Alcoholics Anonymous. She had approximately 35 years of sobriety and loved all of her fellow AA friends. Billie’s last 20 years were a series of ups and downs health-wise. She had been in Hospice 3 times. Once graduating from Hospice, and once discharging herself so she could travel. We called her the “energizer bunny” and “the cat with 12 lives”. She had more dress rehearsals for dying than anyone should have to endure.

Billie was preceded in death by her parents Maxwell and Geneva, her brother Mike, and by three of her four children: Denise (2001), Jimmy (2012), and Wally (2000). Losing her children was Billie’s biggest struggle, something that grieved her daily. As she got closer to her last days, she spoke often of being reunited with them. Billie was a Christian and had no doubt that there was life after death with her Lord and the children she missed so much.

She is survived by husband Ted, daughter Sam (Lenny), stepson Bruce (Becky), and stepdaughter Roxanne (Freddie), the granddaughter she helped raise, Cynthia (Chris), her four sisters: Maxine Murphy (Mick), Jane Midwell, Nan Holliday, and Susie Reppert. Billie leaves behind 11 grandchildren: Cindy, A.J., Jimmy, Samantha, Lindsay, Alex, Jenny, Cynthia, Christina, Teddy, and Michael. Billie cherished her 16 great-grandchildren: Teddi, Tyler, Taryan, Liam, Brooks, Ben, Maddox, Emily, Charlotte, Tristan, Owen, Rachel, Hattie, Jamie, Blake, and Bryson. Billie has five surviving great great-grandchildren: Aric, Carter, Bailey, Theodore, and Ellacyn. She will be missed by her grand god-children Ben and Tesha, as well as her great grand god-children Taylor, T.J., and Avie. Billie leaves behind in-laws Gayle & Doug Salter, and Teri & Steve Glazer. Billie will be remembered by her many nieces and nephews, especially her niece Kelly who visited the most and kept her belly and freezer full. Billie also leaves behind her forever daughter-in-law Debi, her almost adopted daughter Lisa and close friends Claudia and Sky.

Billie’s family would like to give a special thank you to Dr. Ruben Brinkhaus and his office staff, who treated Billie with compassion and provided her with over-the-top care. Over the years, this included house calls and office drop ins and anything else she needed. Special thanks also go out to Hospice of Humboldt, Home Care, Respite Care, for without them we could not have kept Billie at home as long as we did. There is no better end of life care. A special thank you to Billie’s care provider Paula, who showed respect and tenderness. To the staff at the Hospice House for Billie’s last days…thank you for showing such care and concern, for allowing us to grieve, visit, and interact in our own way, and for encouraging us and guiding us in saying goodbye.

A memorial service to celebrate Billie’s life will be held on Monday, May 1st, 2023 at 3 p.m. at Hydesville Community Church. In lieu of flowers, the family kindly requests donations be made to Shriners Children Hospital, Hospice of Humboldt, or a church or charity of your choice in Billie’s honor.

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