Billy Leslie Wheaton

Mrs. Billy Leslie Wheaton
""To live is to dance and to dance is to live.""
Mrs. Billy Leslie Wheaton, 86, of Long Beach, formerly of Baytown, TX., is dancing on the streets of gold with her Lord and Savior. She died Friday, February 15, 2013, in Gulfport. She was born to Andrew A. Leslie and Willie Mae Westbook Leslie on September 25, 1926, in Cedar Bayou, TX. She was a native Texan and proud that her family were Texas pioneers arriving in Texas before the Texas Revolution.
Billy graduated from Cedar Bayou High School and Sam Houston State University with a bachelor of arts in Journalism and a minor in Bible. She owned and operated the Leslie School of Dancing in Baytown for 46 years. For some 15 years, she also owned studios in Highlands, Crosby, Liberty, Dayton, Anahuac and Hull-Daisetta, TX. She also served as director of the Cerebral Palsy center in Baytown and did musical therapy at the Mental Retardation Center there. For years, she served on the board of the Civic Ballet Company in Houston, the Baytown Community Concert Association and the Baytown Chamber of Commerce. She also received a distinguished alumni award from SHSU. She adored politics, serving as a delegate to the Texas Republican Convention and attending the National Republican Convention. She married, Virgil Jerry Wheaton, on July 25, 1950. They had one daughter, Andrea Wheaton Yeager of Long Beach.
Billy moved to Mississippi in 1999 to be near her daughter and her family. She volunteered at the Diane Desporte Dance Academy and worked as a court advocate at the Gulf Coast Women's Center for Nonviolence. She loved attending Women of Wisdom (WOW) meetings in Gulfport. She was a legacy member of Beta Sigma Phi, serving in all offices and as Valentine's sweetheart and Girl of the Year.
She attended River of Life Church of God in Gulfport and for a while Pass Road Baptist and First Assembly of God churches in Gulfport, but her membership stayed at Cedar Bayou United Methodist Church in Baytown, which her ancestors founded.
She was preceded in death by her parents, Andrew A. and Willie Mae Leslie; her aunt, Glenella Diebel; her nephew, Donnie Rae ""Butch"" Diebel; her ex-husband, Virgil Jerry Wheaton.
Billy is survived by her daughter, Andrea Wheaton Yeager; son-in-law, Allen Yeager; granddaughter, Elyssa Mae Yeager; great-granddaughter, Lillian Grace Yeager, all of Long Beach; and numerous cousins in Texas.
Visitation will be from 10 to 11 a.m. Tuesday at River of Life Church of God in Gulfport. A memorial service will follow at 11 a.m. at the church. Apostle T.R. Clute will conduct the service. Burial will be held at a later date in Cedar Bayou Methodist Cemetery in Baytown, TX.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to River of Life Church of God or the Humane Society of South Mississippi.
The family wishes to thank the staffs of Boyington Nursing Home and Canon Hospice in Gulfport for their loving care.
An online obituary may be viewed and memories shared at www.riemannfamily.com/