Billie Jean Martin Clinton

Billie Jean Martin Clinton, 86, retired Laurel automobile dealer, died March 1, 2015, in Baldwin County, Alabama. A memorial service will be at First-Trinity Presbyterian Church at 2 p.m. on Friday, March 6, 2015, with visitation during the hour preceding the service at 1 p.m. The Reverend Dr. Gregory A. Goodwiller will officiate. Born in Vossburg, Mississippi, on December 2, 1928, Clinton moved to Laurel with her family in 1941. After graduating first in her class at George S. Gardiner High School, she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree with honors at Mississippi State College for Women, attended the University of Mississippi Law School, and received a master’s degree in English from the University of Southern Mississippi. Her first career other than mother and homemaker was in teaching at Myrick High School, Forrest County Agricultural High School, the University of Southern Mississippi, and Jones County Junior College. Clinton left teaching in 1980 to go into business with her father, Bill Martin, at Martin Motor Company. She was later named the dealer by General Motors and continued in that capacity until she sold the business in 2006. Clinton’s family members were pioneers in the automotive business in Mississippi. The Martin name was synonymous with area dealerships from 1940-2006. Clinton’s uncle, Ernest Martin, owned E. Martin Chevrolet in Bay Springs. Her father was the Oldsmobile, GMC, Cadillac dealer in Laurel. Her brother, Paul Martin, was the Oldsmobile dealer in Hattiesburg, and her sister and brother-in-law, Betty and Grady Cason, owned Central Pontiac-Buick in Laurel. Active in civic affairs, Clinton was a member of a number of community organizations and served at one time as president of the Mississippi Jaycees, vice president of the Laurel Junior Auxiliary, and as a volunteer at the Lauren Rogers Museum of Art. Her husband, Bill Clinton, who died in 1985, was a strong supporter of the Exchange Club, the Laurel Little Theater, the Community Concert Series, and served as a national director of the Jaycees. The Clintons belonged to the First-Trinity Presbyterian of Laurel where she was a Sunday School teacher and trustee. Clinton was preceded in death by her parents, Bill and Irma Rawls Martin, her husband, James William Clinton, Sr., her son, James William Clinton, Jr., her brother, Paul Martin, her baby sister, Marion Dawn Martin and sister, Betty Cason. She is survived by two daughters, Karen Brown and her husband, Ron of Huntsville, Alabama and Julee Howard and husband, Trey of Fairhope, Alabama; grandchildren, Andrea E. Gaughan and husband, Patrick, Richard Brown and wife, Emily, Arthur Howard, IV, Olivia Howard, and Cecilia Howard; two sisters, Cherry Lee and husband, Lige of Terry, Modena Martin of Jackson; sister-in-law, Ruby Martin of Hattiesburg; two step-sisters, Linda Thomas Lasher and husband, Bob of Pensacola, FL, Eva Russell of Lexington, Kentucky; and step-brother, Jerry Thomas and wife, Rosemary of Jackson. Memorials may be made to the University of Southern Mississippi Foundation, the Jones County Junior College Foundation, or the Lauren Rogers Museum of Art. Memory Chapel is in charge of the arrangements. To view and sign the family guest book, visit www.memorychapellaurel.com.

Billie Jean Martin Clinton

December 2, 1928 - March 1, 2015