OTSELIC – Billie Jo Hitchcock, age 27, died Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2008, as a result of a self-inflicted injury.
Born March 7, 1980, in Hamilton, to Peter and Therese (Lougheed) Hitchcock, she graduated from Otselic Valley Central Schools after which she received an associate’s degree from SUNY Morrisville in business. Billie Jo then transferred to SUNY IT in Utica to pursue a bachelor’s degree in accounting.
At some point on her path in a life with endless possibilities, she lost sight of her goals. Instead she found the instant and very temporary gratification using and abusing alcohol and drugs. Billie Jo battled these addictions by entering various rehabilitation facilities, asking for and receiving assistance from a number of local organizations. She looked for guidance from her church, friends and family, but could not find peace with so much temptation in this ever-changing world.
And now, the most difficult thing this mother and father have had to do in their lives is say goodbye to their youngest child. Billie Jo also leaves behind two sisters and their husbands, Leshia and Douglas O’Hara and Lynn Ann and Michael Stone. She will be sorely missed by her nieces and nephews: Christopher, Coleman, Clayton, Cody O’Hara, Eva, Emma, Ebony, and Michael Stone, Jr.; and grandmothers Mary Lou Lougheed and Claire Hitchcock; a multitude of aunts, uncles and cousins which includes a very special aunt and uncle, Leia and Tom Schlafer; and last but certainly not least, her pugs, Pugsley and Pazzley, who were her babies.
Billie Jo is predeceased by great-grandparents Walter and Eva Marguerite Weishaupt and Lillian Hitchcock, grandfather Frank Hitchcock Sr., and uncle Scott Hitchcock.
In the end, her addictions won the battle; but we think she won the war. She is finally at peace.
Private funeral services will be held at the convenience of Billie Jo’s family, with the Rev. Max Vroman of the Beaver Meadow Christian Church and Rev. Jeremy Stopford of Norwich officiating. Friends are invited to call at the R.J. Fahy Funeral Home from 5 to 7 p.m. Monday.