Lieutenant Colonel Billie Rex Burns, US Army Retired

Lieutenant Colonel Billie Rex (Bill) Burns, US Army Retired, passed away on April 17, 2026, surrounded by his loving family. He was born on April 28, 1931, at home in Royal Township, White County, near El Paso, Arkansas; the tenth and youngest child of Floyd Fonual and Etta (Cummings) Burns. He was predeceased by his parents, wife and best friend of 75 years, Marie (Adams) Burns; six brothers, Chelsie, Bedford, Haskel “Hack”, Troy, A.D., and McCoy “Son”; three sisters, Marcill Moncrief, Beatrice Shock, and Louise Cearley; and grandsons Jeremy Adam Bain and David Henry Burns.

He is survived by his children: Michael Adams (Peggy) Burns of Dardanelle, Arkansas; Ronald Keith (Etta) Burns of Hot Springs Village, Arkansas; Carol (Scott) Seeley of Hot Springs Village, Arkansas; and Cathy Marie Burns (Gary Ragen) of Cabot, Arkansas. He also leaves behind eight grandchildren and fourteen great-grandchildren.

Bill grew up on his family’s farm in the sixteenth section community of Lonoke County. His parents were subsistence farmers and life involved long hours of chopping cotton, hauling hay, and myriad other farm chores during the 1930’s depression. At the age of sixteen, he obtained a false birth certificate, making him eighteen years old, dropped out of high school and entered the Army Air Corps.

After basic training, the Army shipped him out to occupied Germany, assigned as a military policeman to a remote site with a Polish Guard Company. He later completed training as a parachutist/gliderman and was assigned to the 325th Airborne Infantry at Fort Bragg. In 1950, Bill married Marie Adams, the love of his life, best friend, and most beautiful girl in the neighborhood. He was commissioned as a field artillery Second Lieutenant in 1952 and went on to serve in the Korean war, the 10th Special Forces Group in Germany, and the Vietnam war before retiring as a Lieutenant Colonel in 1974.

After 27 years in the Army, Bill returned to Arkansas where he worked for Merrill-Lynch, the Arkansas Public Service Commission, and finally as Office Manager for First Electric.

Most of all, Bill was a wonderful father, grandfather, and great Grandfather. He loved his children and will be dearly missed.

Visitation will be held at Smith Westbrook Funeral Home, 404 W. Dewitt Henry, Beebe, on Wednesday, April 22nd from 12 p.m. – 1:00 p.m., with services to immediately follow at 1 p.m. Interment will be at Grissard Cemetery in El Paso, Arkansas.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Grissard Cemetery Corporation, P.O. Box 59, El Paso, Arkansas 72045.

The family wishes to give a special thank you to his caregivers, Bonita, Billie, Crissy, and Lifetouch Hospice, who took care of him until the end.

Online register: www.smithfamilycares.com