Jorene Kirkland
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Jorene Kirkland (Billie Jo Taylor) was born April 15, 1931 in Lubbock Texas. She died February 10, 2021 in Phoenix, Arizona at the age of 89. Jorene was preceded in death by three brothers and three sisters, her husband, J.D. Kirkland in 1990, and her son, Jimmy R. Kirkland in 2018. She is survived by her eldest son, Davey J. Kirkland and his wife Carla of Cedar Creek, TX and her youngest son, Freddy D. Kirkland and his wife Karen of Phoenix, AZ. She has six grandchildren and thirteen great-grandchildren. Jorene was raised in Whitharral, TX, a farming community, the daughter of J.C. and Stella Taylor. She graduated from Amarillo College and then West Texas State University, Class of 1969, and completed her MBA in 1986. She co-owned multiple businesses along with her husband for thirty-five years before becoming a computer information systems teacher. She worked for Amarillo College for twenty years and retired in 1998. Jorene was a Master Gardener and loved sewing. She was a member of the Piecemakers Quilting Club and continued to make quilts for others until the last few months of her life. She was a member and officer of the 45-Upper Club of the Amarillo Senior Citizens Center. Jorene enjoyed world travel visiting all fifty United States, countries in Europe, South America, and Israel, her favorite. She was humbled to get to walk where her savior, Jesus, walked. Jorene was a member of Central Church of Christ from 1983 until moving to Phoenix in 2018 where she has attended Northwest Community Church. Jorene will be interred at Memorial Park Cemetery next to her husband and son. The service will be for family only due to the pandemic. You may view the service via the live stream at memorialparkamarillo.com https://www.facebook.com/117668561627746. The family requests any honorarium be to the Alzheimer's Association at https://act.alz.org/