Billy Jean (Halley) Stevens, 86, of Centerview, Missouri, died Saturday, Feb. 27, at John Knox Village Hospice in Lee’s Summit, Missouri.

A graveside service is scheduled for 1 p.m. Friday, March 4, at Sunset Hill Cemetery with Rev. Sid Tiller of Northside Christian Church officiating.

She was born to William Alfred and Mary (Pemberton) Halley on the family farm in Centerview.  She attended a one-room schoolhouse during her early primary school years.  When it closed, she attended Warrensburg’s Central Missouri State College’s elementary and secondary training schools, graduating as her high school’s class valedictorian in 1948.

She met her husband, Bill Stevens, while attending Central Missouri State College and they married in 1951.  They spent the next 25 years in Rich Hill, Butler, Higginsville and primarily Lee’s Summit, then returned to the family farm in 1976 for the remainder of their married lives.

Billy was a member of the United Methodist Church, Lee’s Summit.  Her interests were gardening, decorating, wildlife conservation and music, but we know and will remember her best as a loving wife, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother.

She was predeceased by her husband in 2015 and her brother, Russel Halley. She is survived by her children, Alan Stevens, Pam (Chuck) Lundquist and Valerie McCoy; two grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

Arrangements entrusted to Williams Funeral Chapel in Warrensburg.

Online condolences may be left at williamsfuneralchapel.net.