Josie Sutton Bills

Jan. 17, 1941-July 2, 2022

Josie Sutton Bills, 81, of Homer and Anchorage, Alaska passed away at Providence Hospital on July 2, 2022 from complications of Alzheimer’s. She was born Jan. 17, 1941, in Mobile, Alabama. Josie graduated from Murphy High School in Mobile and received her teaching degree from Auburn University in 1961. After teaching stateside for three years, she began teaching for the Department of Defense Overseas School System in Okinawa, Japan, and the Philippines. While in the Philippines, she met and later married a widower, James Ray Bills, on Oct. 25, 1968. After leaving the Philippines in 1972, they lived in Hawaii for a year, followed by 10 years on Adak, Alaska, and finally retired to Homer, in 1983. In addition to being an educator, Josie worked for the US Census Bereau, volunteered her time at the Pratt Museum, the Center for Alaska Coastal Studies, and the Elderhostel Program for many years. She was a world traveler, a Master Gardener, and a brutal Bridge player.

She was preceded in death by her husband, James Ray Bills, in 2016.

Josie is survived by her stepchildren,: Michael (Ann) Bills, of Sitka, Patrick (Barbara) Bills of Maricopa, Arizona, Timothy Bills of Homer, and Tana (Gary) Kirkhart of Anchorage; her sister, Theles Woodfin, of Mobile, Alabama; seven grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren. Memorial contributions may be made to the Alzheimer’s Resouce Center: alzalaska.org