Billie Mae Brown Stembridge

Mrs. Billie Mae Brown Stembridge, age 87 of Fairhope, AL, formerly of Kennedy, passed away Tuesday, October 21, 2025 at Providence Hospital in Mobile.

Funeral services will be held Monday, October 27, 2025 at 2-P.M. from Nelson Funeral Home Chapel. Burial will follow in Kennedy City Cemetery. The family will receive friends Monday from 1-2 P.M. at the funeral home. 

Born and raised in the small rural community of Kennedy, Alabama, Billie Mae Brown Stembridge relocated to Birmingham, Alabama after high school, where she married her high school sweetheart, Billy B. Stembridge. Together, they built a life full of love, laughter, and faith while raising four sons.

A gifted artist with an eye for beauty, Billie went back to school at the age of 50 and earned her college degree in Fine Arts with an emphasis in Interior Design. Her creativity shone through everything she touched, from her artwork to her home, and especially through her sewing, which became both her ministry and her joy.

She lived and worked in Birmingham for most of her life before moving, in her early eighties, to the Daphne/Fairhope area. Throughout her life, Billie poured her heart into serving others through her church and community. Whether in Birmingham or later at First Baptist Church Fairhope, she was faithfully involved in ministry, singing in the choir, teaching Sunday School, leading Bible studies, serving in WMU and GA’s, and playing the piano and organ. Through her sewing and her art, she touched lives quietly but profoundly, stitching love, care, and faith into every piece she made.

Above all, Billie loved Jesus. She accepted Him as her Savior at the age of 21 and spent the rest of her life living out that love for others. Her faith was steady, radiant, and real. She wanted everyone she met to know Him too. Truly, Billie was a walking testimony to the grace of God. Her life verse was Proverbs 31:10, “A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies.”

Billie was preceded in death by her parents, Morgan and Adele Brown; her beloved husband of fifty years, Billy B. Stembridge; and her sisters, Kathleen Brown Hutchinson and Ann Brown Holsonback.

She is survived by her younger brother, Maurice Brown of St. Augustine, FL; her four sons, William R. (Pamela) and Bill Jr. (Kathryn) of Baldwin County, AL; Richard B. Stembridge of Sarasota, FL; and Thomas E. (Carol) Stembridge of Birmingham, AL. She also leaves behind eleven grandchildren, eleven great-grandchildren, and countless others who were blessed to know her gentle spirit.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to First Baptist Church Fairhope, Hearts for God Sewing Ministry (Venmo: @First-Fairhope), in honor of Billie’s giving heart and her love for serving others through her God-given gifts.

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