Billie Karen McDougald Atkins

Billie Karen McDougald Atkins, 82, died peacefully surrounded by her family on Friday, October 25, 2024, after suffering a stroke. Billie is awaited in heaven by her sons, Clyde Kelly Atkins, Jr. “Chuck”, Tanner Kelly Atkins; grandsons Mack and Luke Hatcher; and her parents, Grace and Ellison McDougald.

Billie is survived by her husband of 60 years, Clyde Kelly Atkins, Sr., her daughters, Kelly Allison Hatcher (Philip), and Frances Kelly Reyes (Tony); her daughter-in-law Christine Zone Dennis (Steve Dennis); her three sisters, Ann Pope (Gary), Donna Kelley (John), and Grace McDougald (Ed Cooper); and her sisters-in-laws Delores Neal (Vance) and Diana Atkins (Butch), and many loving nieces and nephews. 

Billie was a fiercely loyal and devoted “Granny” to her grandchildren and great-grandchildren: Elizabeth Atkins Lima (Felipe Lima and their children, Oscar, Lucia, and Tomas), Clyde Kelly Atkins III, Reagan Atkins Fisher (Eric Fisher and daughter Sadie), and Nicholas Kelly Atkins (son Wylder).

She graduated from nursing school at East Carolina University and North Carolina State

University with a graduate degree in Adult Education. She worked as a surgical nurse at UNC Memorial Hospital and for Sanford Medical Group. She taught in the Lee County School system. She taught nursing at CCCC in Pittsboro and Sandhills Community College, where she was a guiding light for new nurses, encouraging them to care for patients with skill and compassion.

A dedicated homemaker, decorator, and cook, Billie had a natural warmth and grace. Billie was a champion of her family’s successes, always cheering them on from the front row of every graduation, gathering, and celebration. Known for her daily phone calls, she made sure each family member felt loved, valued, and seen, applauding small victories and major milestones. In 2012, she was confirmed into the Catholic faith at St. Stephen Catholic Church in Sanford and attended St. Mark Catholic Church in Wilmington, NC.

The family will honor her with a private funeral mass at St. Stephen Church and a burial at St. Andrews Presbyterian Church. 

Memorial donations may be made to the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation, which focuses on spinal cord injury research. www.christopherreeve.org