New Start At 80

Doyle Pleasant Billington, or as we knew him here in Cambodia, “Pops,” was a retired farmer, and he started over in Cambodia at age 80, and raised cattle for almost 14 years. I conducted his funeral service this past month and we buried him at our Phdau Penh Church Home.

He was the last surviving WWII vet in Cambodia, but a farmer at heart. Fifteen years ago his wife died of cancer and he was ready to give up on a hard life. He went from a poor, depression era, farm family, into the military, to a series of jobs that saw him retire as a machinist, as he worked his small farm. He walked away from it all, came to Cambodia in 1999, with his son Steve, and started raising cattle. He went from being stingy and angry, to gentle and generous. He ended well, and asked that I look like a farmer when I buried him. I cheated and wore slacks.

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