Billie Wilder Baxley

Billie Wilder Baxley Billie Wilder Baxley, age 89, of Forsyth, Ga. passed away December 6, 2014, with her five children at her side, due to complications from pneumonia. Mrs. Baxley was the daughter of Francis Millard and Minnie Green Jackson of Jones County. After the loss of her mother at age 6, she went on to live in Hapeville Ga. at the Georgia Baptist Children’s Home where she experienced great kindness from the family of caregivers who raised her and her teachers, especially her music teacher who made her first violinist in the home’s orchestra and her English teacher who instilled in her a love of poetry and Latin. She graduated from Hapeville High School. She came to Forsyth on a private scholarship to Bessie Tift College, where she received her degree in biology, enjoyed the annual Maypole tradition, played tennis and met her husband, Frank Nahum Wilder III. In 1948 they began their married life in Nashville while her husband attended schooling then together they returned to build their lives in Forsyth, Ga. where the then Mrs. Wilder taught in the Monroe County School system and went on to be a homemaker raising five children. Her beloved husband, Frank, passed away in 1976. Then in 1989 she married Claude Baxley of Macon, Ga. where she moved and enjoyed a loving family life with her adult children and newly extended Baxley family. After the death of Mr. Baxley, she moved into Carousal House in Forsyth, Ga. and remained until her illness. She is survived by her children Ellen Wilder Pryor of Forsyth, Ga., Mary Wilder (Barry) Walker of Forsyth, Ga., Margaret Wilder (Don) Davis of Cordele, Ga., Judge Frank Nahum “Buck” Wilder IV of Forsyth, Ga., Ruth Wilder (Rich) Feldman of Ridgefield, Ct and grandchildren Laura Lee Wilder, Hilary Davis Barker, Amber Davis Churcher, Natalie Wilder Davis, Mallory Jean Feldman, Jacob Frankland Feldman, and Frank Nahum Wilder V, her sister, Katherine Husband of Macon, Ga. and her sister-in-law Frances Wilder Mitchell of Forsyth, Ga. Through her children she enjoyed an extended family through marriage, specifically the Walker, Pryor and Baxley families who she also leaves behind. Family will greet friends Sunday, December 7th, from 3pm to 5pm at Monroe County Memorial Chapel, 86 West Main Street, Forsyth, Ga. 31029. Funeral services will be held Monday, December 8th at 3pm at the Forsyth United Methodist Church, 68 West Johnston Street, Forsyth, Ga. followed by burial at the Forsyth City Cemetery, on Newton Drive. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests that donations may be made in her memory to The Carousel House, 173 South Lee Street, Forsyth, Ga. or the Georgia Baptist Children’s Home, 9250 Hutchesons Ferry Rd, Palmetto, Ga. Monroe County Memorial Chapel has charge of arrangements.