BILLIE JANE WIEST

Billie “Jane” Wiest of Louisville, KY died into eternal life on May 16, 2024 in Boston, MA. Jane was born to Ivan Ashley and Jewell Duvall on August 22,1937.

Raised on a farm in Sweeden, KY with her six siblings, Jane entered the Kentucky Baptist Hospital nursing school with her sister JoAnn in Louisville, KY.  After graduation Jane worked as a registered nurse in a doctor’s office.  It was there that she met her husband of 59 years, James Edwin Wiest. Later she practiced industrial nursing at General Electric before becoming a full-time parent. Jane was an avid reader who enjoyed gardening, bowling, theology, and politics. She and Jim were devoted to their family, especially their three grandchildren. Jane was a longtime member of Westport Road Baptist Church in Louisville and more recently was a regular attender of First Baptist Church in Jamaica Plain, MA, where her daughter is pastor.

Jane is preceded in death by her parents, her husband, and her sister JoAnn Ashley. Remaining to give thanks for her life are her daughter Rev. Ashlee Wiest-Laird, her son-in-law Dr. Lance Laird; her beloved grandchildren, Naim, Aidan, and Mycah; her sisters Loretta, Emogene, Edith, and Hilda, her brother Leondal, and many friends and neighbors who will miss her deeply.

There will be a family burial service in Brownsville, KY at the Alexander Cemetery.