Cooperative Living August 2014 - 38

GOOD NEIGHBORS by Bill Sherrod, Editor
'Doing the Right Thing'
G
ood friends and good neighbors
are often also family. Such is the
case with Billy Ray Teaford,
whose aunt, Norma Johnson, nominated
him and his wife Ellen for Cooperative
Living's GOOD NEIGHBORS feature.
Norma and Billy Ray's mother,
Catherine Teaford, were sisters. Norma's
and Billy Ray's homes are a stone's throw
apart; and in fact, most all of the homes
in their beautiful rural neighborhood
along Mt. Pleasant Church Road near
Fincastle belong to kinfolk of Norma's
and Billy Ray's. The family has been
in that part of Botetourt County for
generations.
In nominating Billy Ray and his
wife, Ellen, Norma wrote, " Billy Ray
organizes a car show yearly at
Fincastle Baptist Church with the
proceeds going to the youth program.
He is a volunteer in Relay for Life. He
also worked with Toys 4 Tots to
secure bicycles for children at
Christmas, and he helps assemble
them.
" He helps me (a widow) with
electrical needs, removing snow from
my driveway, and always being there
for me.
" His wife, Ellen, works beside him
in all his projects. She also visits the
sick and shut-ins with her homemade
treats, and she adopted a resident at
Carrington Place (a senior home).
She keeps in touch by phone, shops
for me, and they visit me almost every
Sunday night. Working together, they
maintain the highest ideals of a
Christian life. "
Norma's husband, Billy, passed away
in 2013, six weeks shy of their 59th
wedding anniversary. He had been on
dialysis more than two-and-a-half years,
and suffered from diabetes and cardiac
disease. He was in the hospital more
than a month at the end of his life.
Norma says Billy Ray and Ellen were
hugely helpful and a great comfort to
her during his illness, and since his
36
Norma Johnson (front) with her neighbors
Ellen and Billy Ray Teaford
Norma is a lifelong member of Mt.
Pleasant Methodist Church, a member of
the Tuesday Morning Club and Jackie's
Girls, a cancer survivor's group. In her
spare time she enjoys reading, writing
poetry and working crossword puzzles,
as well as spending time with her three
children, five grandchildren and four
great-grandchildren.
Family is important to Norma and to
the Teafords.
An electrician by trade, Billy Ray last
year was awarded Klein Tools' national
" Electrician of the Year " honor because
death. Norma's known Billy Ray all his
life, and she's known Ellen since she and
Billy Ray were married.
Billy Ray and Ellen met more than
four decades ago when she showed up
with a friend at the service station Billy
Ray was operating. The first time Ellen
met Billy Ray, she had big pink curlers in
her hair, but he was captivated by her,
nonetheless. They celebrated their 41st
wedding anniversary July 28.
FAMILY IS FOREMOST
WITH BOTETOURT
COUNTY NEIGHBORS
of his community-service work. His oldest
daughter and son-in-law, April and
Mike Hill, saw the contest online and
entered Billy Ray, unbeknownst to him.
" When the Klein folks called me for a
phone interview, they asked me about
community activities. I told them the
things I'm involved with and they asked,
'Do you ever have time to work?' " Billy
Ray recalls with a laugh.
Along with their oldest daughter,
April, who teaches information technology
in Roanoke, Billy Ray and
Ellen have another daughter,
Amanda Bruneau, a hospice nurse.
Amanda and her husband David
have a son, Billy Ray, named after his
grandfather. The Teafords kept their
grandson Billy Ray this past school
year while his father and mother
were in North Carolina. David has
leukemia, and Amanda had to be
with him during his four-and-a-halfmonth
treatment cycle at Duke
University Hospital.
" Every day little Billy Ray would
pray for God to make his daddy better,
and then he'd pray for his
Nannie and Paw Paw to 'take good
care of me,' " Billy Ray recalls.
Asked about the essence of neighborliness,
Ellen says, " It's helping
people when they need it. " Billy Ray
adds, " It's just, simply, doing the
right thing. "
" When I saw the call for GOOD
NEIGHBORS nominations in the magazine
last year, it just struck me that Billy
Ray and Ellen are so good to me, I had
to nominate them, " says Norma.
" Billy Ray and Ellen are just good
people, good neighbors, and they've
helped me in so many ways. They call
and visit all during the week, bring me
things from the store, and they never
leave the house without first asking if
they can do anything for me.
" I don't have to ask them for help all
the time - they ask me if they can help,
and that means a lot. " n
Cooperative Living/August 2014
BILL SHERROD PHOTO
Cooperative Living August 2014

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