William "Billy" Frank Christopher

August 28, 1963 – May 25, 2017

Billy Christopher was born in the Heights Hospital in Houston, Texas on August 28, 1963 to Gerald Bronson Christopher and Barbara Jean Moss. At a young age Billy's family moved to their ranch in Fields Store, Texas in the summer of 1964.  He formed a love of hunting & fishing and if he wasn't helping with cattle on his family's ranch, he was in the woods.

After high school, Billy traveled, working with a welding crew on pipelines and later took a job in maintenance for Lubrication Systems. He married and had a son, Chad Christopher and built a home on their family ranch.

After divorcing, he began working as a lineman for San Bernard Electric and quickly discovered that was his calling. He loved working with a close group of people that became and remain his second family.

Billy met Toni Christopher in 1997 and they fell in love and married on March 12, 1999. Before they were married, Billy started having breathing complications. After almost a year of searching for answers, Billy was diagnosed with Scleroderma with secondary Pulmonary Fibrosis. While he never let this disease define who he was, it was life changing for the next 20 years.  Billy received a single lung transplant on August 3rd, 2000 at St. Luke's Hospital in Houston after being on the list for eight days.   While the transplant gave Billy a second chance at life, he was never able to resume his career as a Lineman.  He continued to enjoy their life with cattle and hunting and fishing every opportunity he could.  After adjusting to all the lifestyle changes that transplants bring, Billy and Toni tried for 3 years to have a child and finally had Kaitlin Michaela Christopher on April 28, 2003.

Being disabled at 38 years old was hard on Billy, he stayed home with Kaitlin and Chad and was a devoted and loving "hands-on" Dad in every sense of the word. Anyone who knew him knew how proud he was of his children. About eight years ago a neighboring ranch needed someone to help care for their animals and it gave Billy a new-found sense of purpose. He was also a caregiver for his blind father and they continued to share their love of country life and cattle ranching.  While health matters consumed the majority of Billy's adult life, he never felt sorry for himself or complained.  All the nurses loved him & many become life-long friends.  He was a quiet man and had a calmness and patience that few people possess.  Unless he was talking about cattle, hunting, or fishing, he didn't say much; but when he did, you could expect something quick-witted or meaningful to be said.  He had a strong simple, obedient faith that guided him in all decisions, he prayed and gave everything to God, without worry or doubt.  His faith developed even more the last few years as he faced death, he drew even closer to God.

Due to the Scleroderma and transplant complications, Billy had frequent health problems with recurring chronic rejection, but thanks to a wonderful transplant team, and a strong will to live for his family, he managed to live 17 years which put him in the top 3% of lung transplant recipient survivors. The chronic rejection increased and two and a half years ago he was forced to go back on oxygen and was re-listed for a second lung transplant.  After switching transplant centers, he was listed at Cleveland Clinic and after being listed with their center for 2 months, he received the call on May 22nd and was flown to Cleveland on May 23rd and he endured his second 12 hour transplant.  Despite all of the Doctor's efforts, and a million prayers, the Lord took Billy home on Thursday, May 25th, 2017.