View source for Billie Annabelle Beaver Jennings

Billie Jennings was born on November 25, 1925 at St. Louis, [[Missouri]], a daughter of Ward Detrich Beaver (b. 1903 Cobden, Union, IL - d. 1988 St. Louis, MO) & Ruth Evelyn Baldwin Beaver (b. 1908 Pleasant Mound, Bond, IL - d. 1955 Buena Vista, Fayette, OH).  

In 1930, her family lived at 5646 Page Avenue, and then at 5732-A Etzel Avenue by 1940.  She attended Beaumont High School and served in positions for a minimum of two semesters for the "Junior Girls Glee Club", once as its assistant librarian (Jan. '42), and another time (June '42) as correspondent for the school news "Digest" & the yearbook on the Glee Club's behalf. The Glee Club was sponsored by Miss Else Brix & Mr. Stamm.

She was saved at the age of 17, and subsequently was instrumental in leading her parents, siblings (and their children) to Christ.

In 1950, Billie lived at the Shawnee, Pottawatomie, [[Oklahoma]] in the Shawnee Apartments (college dormitory) where she lived with, and babysat for a widowed student of Oklahoma Baptist University named Norma Jo Bratcher Henley-White (b. 1926 Byars, McClain, OK - d. 2017), daughter of Benjamin Franklin Bratcher (b. 1902 Walters, Cotton, OK - d. 1971 Shawnee, OK) & Mildred Mattie Cowger Bratcher (b. 1910 Maxwell, Pontotoc, OK - d. 1997 Shawnee, OK).

After declining health, Billie was promoted to Glory on May 11, 2023. She was in fellowship for many years with the [[Fenton Meeting Room, MO|Fenton Meeting Room]] (TW-N), originally in St. Louis, that was founded prior to 1878.

=Parents=
* Ward Detrich Beaver (b. 1903 Cobden, Union, IL - d. 1988 St. Louis, MO), son of William Howard Beaver (1857-1927 [[Pennsylvania|PA]]; m. 1897 Union Co., IL;) & Delia E. Sifford Beaver (b. 1871 South Pass, Union, IL - d. 1955 St. Louis, MO). In 1930, Ward was managing a local meat market in St. Louis, and owned the business by 1940.
* Ruth Evelyn Baldwin Beaver (b. 1908 Pleasant Mound, Bond, IL - d. 1955 Buena Vista, Fayette, OH), daughter of John Edward "Ed" Baldwin (b. 1876 Seminary Twp., Fayette, IL - d. 1958 East St. Louis, MO) & Effie Lucy Smith Baldwin (b. 1883 Fairview, Bond, IL - d. 1960 St. Louis, MO). 1860-1870, the Baldwin family lived in Bond Co., in 1860 at Mulberry Grove, and 1870 at Pleasant Mound.
** Effie was a daughter of Aaron Smith (b. 1839 - d. 1899) & Lydia Hale/Hehl Smith-Baldwin (b. 1842 Guilford, Franklin, [[Pennsylvania|PA]] or Adams Co., PA - d. 1928 Pleasant Mound Twp., Bond, IL).
*** Aaron was a son of Elisha Milton Smith (b. 1781 [[North Carolina|N.C.]] - d. 1851 Pleasant Mound, IL) & Phoebe Loftice Smith (b. 1801 [[South Carolina|S.C.]] - d. 1878 Pleasant Mound, IL). Elisha resided in St. Clair Co., IL as early as 1820, and in Bond Co. by 1830.

=Siblings=
* Joan Rachel Beaver Mathews (b. 1927 St. Louis, MO - d. 2014 Glen Allen, Henrico, [[Virginia|VA]]). Husband (1952 @ Galveston, [[Texas|TX]]: James Robert Mathews (1925-2000 St. Louis, MO), son of George John Mathews (b. 1899 St. Louis, MO - d. 1976 Affton, St. Louis, MO) & Helen Lorretta Barry Mathews (b. 1899 St. Louis, MO - d. 1981 Affton, MO). In 1930, George Mathews owned a fruit and vegetable shop. The Mathews line, starting with James Mathews (1810-1857) & Catherine Fay Mathews (1810-1852), emigrated from Ireland to St. Louis in the 1840's, both succumbing to the cholera epidemic that swept thru St. Louis in the 1850's.

* Ward Edward Beaver (b. 1932 St. Louis, MO - d. 1997 Fort Myers, Lee, [[Florida|FL]]). He served 1953-1955 with the military. Wife (1953 @ St. Louis, MO): Virginia Carolyn Wilson Beaver (1933-2015 St. Louis, MO), daughter of John Christopher Wilson (1894-1954 St. Louis, MO) & Virginia Hard Wilson (b. 1902 Centreville, St. Clair, [[Illinois|IL]] - d. 1988 Florissant, St. Louis, MO).

=Marriage=
Billie married David Getson Jennings (b. 1923 Coleman, TX - d. 2012 Lemay, St. Louis, MO), son of Dr. William Leonard Jennings (b. 1885 Kirk, Limestone, TX - d. 1971 Coleman, TX) & Mattie Asenath Horne Jennings (b. 1888 Coleman, TX - d. 1979 Lubbock, TX). She was his second wife. No children with this union, but David had five children from his first marriage. See [https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/85183796/david-getson-jennings FindAGrave].

David's first wife (3-14-1950 @ Webster Groves, St. Louis, MO) was Jane Finlay Van Hook Jennings (b. 1922 Webster Groves, MO - d. 1978 Kirkwood, MO), daughter of Lawrence Newell Van Hook, Jr. (b. 1888 Ferguson, St. Louis, MO - d. 1973 St. Louis Co., MO) & Olive Andrews Van Hook (b. 1892 St. Louis, MO - d. 1978 St. Louis, MO). See [[Who's Who at Bermuda Bible Chapel, MO]] for more on the Van Hook lineage.

After one year of college, David enlisted in the U.S. Army on Oct. 6, 1942 in Abilene, near Coleman where he was residing at the time. He earned the rank of TEC 3 while serving with the medical department during WWII. He later lived in Denton, and in 1950 was self-employed as a drugstore salesman. David is buried at the Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery in Lemay, St. Louis, his gravestone reads "Praise God I'm Home".

=Sources=
* Ancestry.com