Billy Joe Aulds, Jr.

Funeral services for Billy Joe Aulds, Jr., will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, February 11, 2023, at Grace Baptist Church, 416 Denham Avenue, West Columbia, South Carolina, with Pastor David Goforth officiating. The family will receive visitors at the church one hour prior to the service. Interment will be at Celestial Memorial Gardens.

Billy was born in West Monroe, Louisiana. He graduated from Calhoun High School and Hillsdale Free Will Baptist College (now Randall University) in Moore, Oklahoma. He earned a master’s degree from Pensacola Christian College. He taught school in California, Virginia, South Carolina, Puerto Rico, and Okinawa, Japan. He was the Elementary Supervisor at Grace Christian School in West Columbia, South Carolina and Principal in both Puerto Rico and Okinawa. He married Linda Elder in 1984.

In 1987, Billy and Linda began their service as missionaries for Baptist International Missions, Inc. They served in Okinawa and Puerto Rico, only returning to South Carolina after Billy experienced a traumatic brain injury.

Billy loved his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and loved seeing people come to know Christ as their personal Savior. After the injury, Billy enjoyed greeting people at the doors of Grace Baptist Church. He always met people with a smile, and even with his physical limitations and pain, was continuously joyful. He enjoyed reading God’s Word, spending time with friends, Facetiming with his grandchildren, and drinking café con leche.He thought dessert should be eaten first.

Family members who remain to cherish his memory include Linda, his wife of 38 years, daughters Stephanie Aulds and Rachel (John) Cuendet, and son Micah; grandchildren McKenna and Colton Cuendet; sisters Teresa (Richard) Bowden, Gwen (Bill) Middleton, and Cindy (Tommy) Williams; aunts, uncles, nieces, and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents, Billy, Sr., and Eloyce Aulds.

The family wishes to thank the many doctors and nurses who cared for Billy in the years after his injury, especially Dr. Richard Morrow and staff, who showed Billy great kindness and compassion. The family also thanks the many members of Grace Baptist Church who have been the hands and feet of Jesus in ministering to Billy and his family.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorials be made to Grace Baptist Church Mission Fund, Baptist International Missions, Inc., or the Kidney Foundation.

Jesus said, I am the resurrection and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. (John 5:29)