Billy (Champ) Ray Champion's Obituary
Billy Ray Champion was born on May 6, 1928 in Holdenville, Oklahoma, the second of eight children born to Chester and Ada Champion. As music was an important party of Billy’s life, he wanted his life honored through the lens of his music career.
In 1935, at seven years old, Billy started playing rhythm guitar and singing with his two brothers, James and Joe. In their hometown of Holdenville, Oklahoma, a local minister heard that the brothers wanted to play music and offered to give them lessons. It wasn’t long before they were performing at local lodges, political rallies, and churches. They even entered and won a few amateur contests. About 1938, the brothers played on their first live radio broadcast over KADA in Ada, Oklahoma.
The song, “Texas Plains” was their favorite song and their favorite band was Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys. The brothers, if at all possible, never missed a Bob Wills radio broadcast.
In 1940, Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys came to Holdenville. When he saw the Champion Brothers perform at a town dance, he invited them on stage to perform with his band. This was the greatest thrill of these young musicians’ lives.
By the time Billy turned 18, he was a leader and booking agent for a ten-piece dance group. He routinely acted as master of ceremony at regional events, and was an emcee on a live daily radio show for two years.
Billy was also a natural engineer, and this led him to a long career in state and federal governments. He had many notable successes including designing a machine that significantly improved submarine maintenance. He also was a natural at operational efficiency and received numerous awards for his cost saving process improvements. His passion for music also extended to his government career, as he routinely formed bands to entertain co-workers, veterans and numerous audiences in the communities where he lived and worked.
From 1952 to 1954, Billy served in the U.S. Marine Corps in San Diego and Camp Pendleton, California. Following his honorable discharge, he worked at Mare Island Naval Shipyard, and promotional opportunities eventually led to a lengthy executive position within the Veterans Administration.
He spent many years working in Washington D.C., Newark, New Jersey, and Nashville, Tennessee. He received several commendations throughout his career, as well as being honored with the President’s Award and Federal Employee of the Year Award. He retired in June of 1983 and was honored with an Outstanding Career Award for 33 years of exceptional government service.
As a retiree, he proudly became “Mr. Mom” to his three young daughters, while his wife, Sherry, carried on a demanding medical career. He was able to foster his daughters’ love of music and performed with them at events throughout the region. As his daughters grew up, he became involved with several regional Western Swing Societies to preserve and promote Western Swing music. Billy played guitar and bass throughout his career, but he began performing routinely on his tenor banjo all along the West Coast, from Seattle down to San Diego. He eventually formed his own Western Swing band called Billy Champion and the Champs of Western Swing, and opened for Asleep at the Wheel on several occasions.
Billy and his brothers received numerous awards for the music career over the years. They were recognized as Pioneers of Western Swing by the Seattle Western Swing Music Society in 1999. Billy was inducted into the Western Swing Hall of Fame by several societies around the nation including Sacramento Western Swing Society, Oregon Western Swing Association, and Western Swing Society of the Southwest in Yukon, Oklahoma. In 2012, Billy received the Heroes of Western Swing award from the Cowtown Society of Western Music in Mineral Wells, Texas. In his later years, he focused on supporting his music community by recognizing and honoring musicians that worked to preserve the legacy of the music he loved.
Billy moved to Tacoma, Washington in 2018 where he routinely spent quality time with his daughters, son-in-law and granddaughters in a home full of love, laughter and music.
Billy is preceded in death by his parents, Chester and Ada Champion, his brothers Chester W. Champion, Jr and Kenneth Champion, and by his wife Carmen Champion.
He is survived by the mother of his children, Sherry Champion, his three daughters, Sarah Pedersen (Aaron), Annita Champion and Stephanie Champion; his granddaughters Annie Pedersen and Raylee Champion; and numerous friends and family.
Billy will be laid to rest with a graveside memorial at Tahoma National Cemetery on Thursday, November 5, 2020 at 2pm. Onsite attendance is limited to immediate family, but all are welcome to attend via the livestream event linked below.
http://webcast.funeralvue.com/events/viewer/39889
Billy’s family will honor his life through a Life Celebration Memorial video that will be released to family and friends later this month.
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