Billie M. (Parfrey) Castle
Marriages
Phil Castle - July 27, 1985
Burial Details
Obituaries
Grand Junction Daily Sentinel page 3 D Obituary - March 1, 2015
Billie M. Castle, a trust and estate attorney respected for both her legal expertise and compassionate advocacy, died February 22, at St. Mary’s Hospital in Grand Junction. She was 51. Billie worked in the Grand Valley for more than 16 years as an associate and then partner at Brown and Castle and subsequently as a solo practitioner. More than that, Billie was a loving wife, doting mother, beloved sister and good friend. Her character was apparent not only in her great capacity for love, but also the love she engendered in so many others. Billie was born November 17, 1963, the fifth of six children of Bill and Velma Parfrey. She grew up in Craig and graduated from Moffat County High School in 1982. She worked as a radio station office manager and later in other bookkeeping positions and as a bank teller. Billie met Phil Castle on a blind date in 1982. Billie and Phil were married July 27, 1985. Their love affair endures to this day. Seven years after graduating high school, Billie went to college, attending what’s now Colorado Mesa University in Grand Junction. Billie was doubly busy as not only a college student, but also a mother. Zachary Castle was born January 17, 1990. Alexander Castle was born March 14, 1993. Billie graduated summa cum laude – with highest honors – in 1993 with a bachelor’s of business administration degree. A year later, Billie pursued in earnest her life-long ambition of becoming a lawyer. She attended the Willamette University School of Law in Salem, Oregon. She graduated in 1997, magna cum laude, ranked second academically in her graduating class. Billie was selected to the Willamette Law Review and served as business editor. She also worked as an assistant to the district attorney in Marion County, Oregon, and successfully prosecuted more than 40 trials in the juvenile justice system. Her true passion, though, was trust and estate law, an expertise she developed under the tutelage of her law school professor Valerie Vollmar. Billie returned to Western Colorado in 1998 to practice trust and estate law as an associate and then partner with Brown and Castle. Billie subsequently launched her own practice, enlisting the help of her good friend and paralegal Carrie West. Billie and Carrie worked together more than 16 years. Over the course of her career, Billie earned designation as a certified elder law attorney as well as the highest rankings in peer reviews. She was a member of the Colorado Bar Association
and served a term as chairwoman of the elder law committee. As much as Billie loved the intricacies of law, she loved more her interactions with clients.She was a raconteur who joked and cajoled. She was foremost a teacher who explained the law in a way her clients could understand. Consultations at Billie’s office invariably ended with laughter and hugs. Away from her law office, Billie enjoyed cooking and gardening. Rev. Blaine Scott officiated over services for Billie at Callahan- Edfast Mortuary in Grand Junction. Private inurnment will follow at Pagoda Cemetery in rural Routt County. Billie was preceded in death by an infant son, Jonathan, and her parents. She is survived by her husband in Grand Junction; her sons, Zachary in Dallas and Alexander in Washington, D.C.; her brothers, William, in Port Orchard, WA, and Ray and Shane in Craig; her sisters, Rena Hurst, in Wild Rose, WI, and Virginia in Craig, and numerous nieces and nephews. When discussing end-of-life decisions with her clients, Billie used to joke she wanted an elaborate headstone, what she called an ostentatious display. She will get one. But her more lasting legacy will be the generosity of her spirit and her love, that most enduring of things that remains forever bright and brilliant. Memorial contributions may be made to the Colorado Mesa University Foundation.
Grand Junction Daily Sentinel page 6A Death Notice - February 24, 2015
Billie M. Castle, 51, Grand Junction, died Feb. 22, 2015, at St. Mary’s Hospital. Mrs. Castle was a trust and estate attorney.
Services will be at 2 p.m. Thursday at Callahan-Edfast Mortuary. Survivors include her husband, Phil M.; two sons, Zachary of Dallas and Alexander of Washington, D.C.; three brothers, William Parfrey of Port Orchard, Washington, and Raymond and Shane Parfrey, both of Craig; and two sisters, Virginia Parfrey of Craig and Rena Parfrey of Wisconsin.
