Billie Ferguson Franke of Buda, Texas, passed away peacefully in Austin, Texas on Friday, February 26, 2021 at the age of 83 years and two days. She was one of the very few remaining “old timers” born in Buda. Her parents were Bruce and Mary Abney Ferguson. Bruce served as Mayor of Buda for some 23 years. His mother Mary Jane Ferguson, nee Lawson, came to Texas with her parents as a young girl in a covered wagon in the late 1800’s, settling in the Buda area. Billie’s Great Grandfather, McKinney Lawson who also came to the Buda area of Hays County as an early settler was one of the founding members of the First Baptist Church of Buda as noted on the historical marker in front of the church.
In mid-semester of her senior year at North Texas State University in Denton, she married Ronald R. Franke, in Buda on January 23, 1960 and they returned to Denton for her to complete her final year and graduate before moving back to Buda.
Her life was dedicated to the service of children, both her own and those in the communities where she worked for over 40 years in the field of education. Her first employment in her chosen field of Home Economics was at her old Alma Mata of Buda High School where she began as an assistant to her former Home Economics teacher, Nina Coers. She also taught Home Economics at Kyle High for several years before transferring to Hays High School in the Home Economics Department with Linda Schmeltekopf.
