A private Celebration of Life service will be held for Billy Ray Porter, 69, on December 23 for immediate family only. Rev. Bobby Thomas will officiate.
Interment will follow in Prairie Grove Cemetery in Emory. Pallbearers will be Joe Mack Porter, Aaron Porter, Karon Porter, Vernon Keith Johnson, Michael Johnson and Isaac Porter.
Mr. Porter died on December 17, 2020. He was born on April 6, 1951, to Mack Franklin (Roscoe) and Lena Mae Porter in Emory. He was educated at the Sand Flat School in Emory. He married Katie Sue Johnson on September 15, 1980.
Mr. Porter worked for Specialty Foods in Sulphur Springs for 16 years. Later he worked for Dal-Air in Point, retiring in 2016. Following that, he worked part time for Gaston Sanitation. He loved animals, especially horses. He owned many horses over the years, and Diamond Lady was his favorite.
Mr. Porter is survived by his wife; sons, Vernon Keith Johnson and wife Delena, and Michael Johnson and wife Felice; brothers, Isaac Porter and wife Betty, Joe Mack Porter and wife Linda, Karon Porter and wife Mary, and Aaron Porter and wife Linda; sisters, Wan Dell Miles, Judy Fields and Gladine Mayfield; four grandchildren; one great-grandchild; and many other relatives and friends.
He was preceded in death by his parents; four brothers; and a sister.
Viewing will be held on Tuesday, December 22, from noon to 6:00 p.m. at the Cozine & Tarver Funeral Home in Greenville.