Billie Bruce Fox

Billie Bruce "Bebe" Johns Fox, 84, passed away peacefully on September 30,2022 in Charlotte, NC. She was born to James Bryant "JB" and Billie Strowd Johns on March 13th,1938 at Watts Hospital in Durham, NC, which she would proudly point out is now the location of the School of Science and Math. Bebe grew up in Chapel Hill or "The Southern Part of Heaven" as she would call it. While JB fought in WWII, Billie moved the family to Sarasota, FL where Bebe learned synchronized swimming with a mermaid tail and swam in the Gulf of Mexico which she always said was as warm as a bathtub. After JB returned from war, the family moved to Asheboro, NC where Bebe and some classmates from Asheboro High once danced to "Rock Around the Clock" and other beloved songs of the 1950s while their car idled in the middle of the road. Bebe made her debut into society at the North Carolina Debutante Ball in Raleigh. She began her college education at Salem College in Winston Salem and completed her degree in Fine Art at UNC-Chapel Hill.

After college, Bebe had many adventures: Working as a Reservationist for Eastern Airlines which allowed her to travel all over the world and meet Mick Jagger who personally booked the airfare for the Rolling Stone's flight back to the UK after their first US tour in 1964; Driving across the country with two friends which landed them an opportunity of a private tour of Graceland by The Colonel (unfortunately Elvis was sleeping!); Working as a Blackjack dealer at Harvey's Wagon Wheel at Lake Tahoe (much to her mother's chagrin); and Director for the Campfire Girls in Atlanta, GA. Bebe's parents convinced her to move back to North Carolina and pursue her Master's Degree. Bebe and her poodle, Mr. Mikko, headed back to NC.

In graduate school at UNC-Greensboro, John Benjamin Fox offered to carry a heavy stone that was part of a project of their shared art class. They fell in love, got married and after grad school raised their two daughters in Winston-Salem, NC in an old farmhouse they called Foxrun that needed a lot of TLC. The whole family spent nearly every weekend repairing, painting and improving to make the house and gardens into quite a showplace.

Bebe served as Youth Director at the Winston-Salem Arts and Crafts Association (now the Sawtooth Center for the Visual Arts), taught art in the public schools and worked as a real estate broker at Lamb Young in Winston-Salem. She was a watercolorist in the family house portrait business called "For That Special Property" and devoted most of her free time to genealogical research of her family tree. Bebe served as Vice President and President of the Colonel Joseph Winston Chapter of DAR and the Society of Ancient Planters, and held membership in the Jamestowne Society.

Bebe had a very loud and startling sneeze and an amazing infectious laugh. She loved painting and drawing, telling stories, writing books about family history, planning gardens, visiting Ocracoke, 50's music, photography, dogs and more than anything her granddaughters. She leaves behind her talented and doting husband, John, who shares the love of Foxrun, art, genealogical research, gardening and their granddaughters; Daughter Elizabeth Atwater Fox Brooks (Steve Brooks) of Sparta, NC who carries on the love of gardens, Ocracoke and portrait business; Daughter Julia Bryant Fox Parker (Sam Parker) of Charlotte, NC who inherited Bebe's photographic eye, love of pups, infectious laugh and sense of adventure; Granddaughter Isabel Engel of Boone, NC who inherited artistic talent and storytelling through film; Granddaughter Cate Brooks of Sparta, NC who also loves puppy dogs and creating art; Sister Julie Johns Allen (Jim Allen) of Atlanta, GA who is wonderfully creative and artistic; and adoring first cousin and lifelong best friend Robert Newsome (Mike Van Fossen) of Durham, NC who shares the love of genealogical research and family.

No memorial service is scheduled at this time.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.voglerfuneralhome.com for the Fox family.