Mr. Harry Billy Joe NeeseWest Monroe – Memorial services for Mr. Harry Billy Joe Neese, 80, of West Monroe, LA will be at 1:00 pm Saturday, June 16, 2018 at the Kilpatrick Chapel on North 7th Street, West Monroe. Visitation will be from 11:00 am until time of service Saturday at the funeral home. Interment will take place at the Rocky Branch Cemetery in Union Parish under the direction of Kilpatrick Funeral Home West Monroe.Mr. Neese was born June 25, 1937 in West Monroe, LA and passed from this life to eternal life with Christ on June 13, 2018 in Jackson, Mississippi at the age of 80. Mr. Neese was an Air Force veteran and a United Postal Service retiree.He is preceded in death by his parents, Woodrow Wilson Neese and Hazel Marie Hobbs Neese and one brother, Philip Neese.Survivors include his beloved brown-eyed wife of 58 years, Bonnie Jo Haye Neese of West Monroe; his children, Kim Neese and Joey Neese of West Monroe; his laughing buddy and brother, Don Neese, and wife Sandra and family of San Marcos, Texas; his dear cousins, Kathy Brumfield, Bobby Neese, Paul Neese, and Jimmy Neese and their respective families across the South; his brothers-in-law John Ed Haye and Nickey Haye of Rocky Branch; and a host of much loved nieces and nephews who meant a lot to him.Mr. Neese was known as Billy Joe on the Neese side of the family and was known as Harry to his wife family and church family. It was always a source of amusement to people who knew the story behind that.Mr. Neese was an American patriot who loved his country. It was an honor for him to have served eight years in the Air Force as a crew member on the B-52 planes and he entertained his children for decades with stories of going around the world as a young man. He was also a member of the Sons of the American Revolution and the First Families of Louisiana. Mr. Neese was one-fourth Hispanic and his membership in these organizations came through the lineage of his beloved Hispanic grandmother, Carrie Falcon, who meant the world to him.Mr. Neese was a powerful Christian man who maintained an active prayer life and an active church life for decades. He has forgotten more about the Bible than most people have read or known. He embodied the imitation of Christ as the Word teaches. Christianity was not a philosophy to Mr. Neese. It was a real relationship with Jesus Christ.Mr. Neese was family man. He loved his wife the way that Christ loved the church and the way that a hero loves a heroine. He loved his children beyond description. His relationship with his brother was one of mutual admiration, deep devotion, and laughter. And he loved his in-laws as his own. His cousins, nieces, nephews, and church family were deeply loved by him.Mr. Neese wrote three novels and was on the last chapter of the fourth when he passed away. Writing was a great hobby of his. And another pastime was trying to figure out ways to keep the squirrels out of his bird feeders.Lastly, Mr. Neese was a happy man. He felt himself to be blessed and told his wife in the past few weeks before his sudden illness that life has been so good. That didnt mean that life had been perfect, but Mr. Neese believed as did the Apostle Paul that . I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.Pallbearers will be fellow church members of Rocky Branch Church.The family gives a special thank you to the University of Mississippi Medical Center critical care team in the neuroscience ICU. And a special thank you to the Rocky Branch Baptist Church for their support.Online condolences may be sent to the family at www.kilpatrickfuneralhomes.comKilpatrick Funeral HomeWest Monroe, LA