Billy Joe Shannon (1931 - 2016)

Born 12 Sep 1931 in Mountain View, Stone, Arkansas, United States

Ancestors

Died 22 Nov 2016 at age 85 in Searcy, Arkansas, United States

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Allyson White [send private message]

Biography

My great uncle Bill had a very interesting life, about which I know very little detail. From the vague stories I've heard from him and others, as well as what is shown in pictures and letters, Bill a very intelligent man. He was born in Arkansas, got his early education there, but was living in Michigan City, Indiana by his late youth. He went to college to become a journalist but never finished due to expenses. He joined the U.S. Air Force, which he did not like much, and spent a number of years in Japan as a soldier. In Japan he fell in love with a local girl but was never able to marry her and returned to the states when his time in the military was done. He loved photography and has many picture of Japan and many notes (though vague and clearly only meant for him) on these subjects. He was an avid notetaker all his life and in his old age, when I knew him, he kept a stack of notecards always next to him for writing down whatever came to mind. He loved to learn and was curious about many things, culture, history, and religion being among them. At some point, I'm told, he mistakingly joined a cult. I know little else about it, there were many things in his life about which he did not like to speak of. He eventually got out of the cult but I've been told that he ended up involved with them (a group of "Christian" religious fanatics) due to his constant questioning and slightly mystic beliefs. He was once arrested for writing a seemingly threatening letter to JFK, although he always said it was not meant to be threatening but was misunderstood. The topic of the letter was thought to be in relation to the assassination in some way. At some point he was also detained in a mental institution at a time when they were very bad places to be in. He never spoke of this and I know nothing else about it. He did not marry until very late in life although their story is recalled as something of a perfect love story. Betty and Bill met when they were fairly young and although they were quite fond of each other they never dated due to their notable age gap. Later, after Betty's first husband died (after she nursed him through a long sickness which led to his eventual death) they met again and were married not too long after. They remained together the rest of their life. Bill became sick later in their lives, however, Betty cared for him so that he lived many, many years longer than the doctors predicted was possible. Betty died about a year or so after Bill did. She'd had cancer in her spine that continued to return throughout the years. ^[1]

Listed in the Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, A-5 1st Bn., Aug. 1956, Company D Roster as "Shannon, Billy J., 410-1/2 Wabash St., Michigan City, Ind."

He was the son of John Shannon and Levona Ferris. He passed away in 2016.

Obituary:

"Billy Joe Shannon, age 85 of Searcy, died Tuesday, November 22, 2016 in Searcy. He was born September 12, 1931 at Mountain View, Arkansas to John Esper Shannon and Gertrude Farris Shannon. He is survived by his wife, Betty Shannon; one daughter, Lisa Renee’ Peel Hoffmann and husband Barry Wade of Searcy; and two grandchildren, Karli Renee’ Hoffmann, and Clayton Wade Hoffmann and wife Madison “Maddy” Cloninger Hoffmann. He is preceded in death by his parents; one brother, Willie Ray Shannon; and one sister, Johnnie Francine Shannon. Graveside funeral services will be Wednesday at 11:00 am at Arkansas State Veterans Cemetery in North Little Rock. Arrangements by Powell Funeral Home of Searcy"^[2]

Sources

1. ↑ Personal recollection of events witnessed by Allyson White as remembered 8 Feb 2018.
2. ↑ https://www.powellfuneralhome.net/obituaries/Billy-Shannon-2/#!/Obituary

• https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/173234833
• "United States Public Records, 1970-2009", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KL2Z-Z94 : 8 November 2019), Billy Joe Shannon, 2007-2008.
• "United States Census, 1940," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KQV8-1FG : 8 January 2021), Billy Joe Shannon in household of J E Shannon, Buffalo Township, Craighead, Arkansas, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 16-11, sheet 22B, line 46, family 337, Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940, NARA digital publication T627. Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790 - 2007, RG 29. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2012, roll 128.