Mourning the Loss of Billy Carlisle

Posted by Ed Davis

The Clear Creek family is saddened by the sudden passing of Billy Carlisle, youngest son of our beloved Peggy and George Carlisle.  Billy was the varsity basketball coach at Deer Park High School, a longtime rival through the years for Clear Creek teams.  He died on Friday night, Februrary 10, following a basketball game at the Deer Park Campus of what has been determined to be a heart attack.  Billy would have been 52 on Saturday.

It was reported by school officials that Billy had felt some chest pains with only a few minutes left in the game but stayed on the bench to complete his coaching duties.  After the game, he continued having the pains in his chest and he was checked out by one of the team trainers.  The trainers call paramedics who transported him to a local hospital.  Tragically, Billy did not survive the ride to the hospital.

Billy was a 1973 graduate of Clear Lake High School and Baylor University.  While a student at Baylor from 1973-77, he played basketball and after leaving Baylor played professional ball for a short while in an Austrian basketball league.  In the 1980's, Billy began his teaching and coaching career in the Deer Park school district. 

In addition to his wife and 3 sons, Billy is survived by his parents, George and Peggy, and his older brother, Buddy, current varsity basketball coach at Clear Creek High School.  He also leaves behind a number of other family members and a multitude of friends.

A public visitation will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. on Monday at Deer Park United Methodist Church (100 E. 13th St. in Deer Park). A private burial will be held on Tuesday, and a public memorial service will be held in the fine arts hall at Deer Park beginning at 4 p.m. on Tuesday.

Our prayers and our loving go out to Billy's family and loved ones in this most difficult of times.

Comments

[Pat Jensen]

My prayers and deep condolences reach out to you, Coach and Peggy, along with Billy's wife and children and all of the Carlisle family. Your huge, extended family of Wildcats are rallying behind you.

[Garvis Hadley]

Heartfelt sympathies and condolences to George, Peggy, and the entire Carlisle family in the passing of Billy. My thoughts and prayers are with you in our time of mourning.

[Kenneth Chaviers]

My prayers and heart felt feelings go out to George, Peggy and all of Carlisle Family members, especially Billy wife and children at his time. God Bless!

[Bubba Mathis]

I was stunned and saddened when my dad called me with the news of losing Billy yesterday morning. I express my deepest sympathies to Billy's wife and young boys, as well as Coach & Mrs. Carlisle, Buddy, Vickie and families. Billy was a truly fine person. He was a major influence on my basketball at Creek. I remember many days, especially Sunday afternoons, playing pick-up games at the Field House. When Billy was at Creek/Lake, he never failed to include me, a mere youth in Jr. High, when choosing sides for the games. It meant the world to me that he/they would notice, much less choose me, to be worthy to play with them in those pick-ups.

While there were large stretches of time I'd go without seeing Billy (I'm talking years, like when I lived out of state), when we saw one another, he acted as if he'd seen me just yesterday. He ALWAYS made me feel close.

My love and prayers go out to the entire Carlisle family at this most difficult time.

[Ed Davis]

I made a couple of corrections and addition in this post about Billy's untimely passing. I was very shocked and dismayed when I heard about this and when I wrote the post in the early morning hours I was not thinking too clearly. I apologize for the mistakes.

What can you really say about all this? Words fail us for sure. The Carlisle family has meant so much to me over these years and I want to add my condolences to all the family members and to let them know they are in my constant prayers now and will be in the future. To Peggy and George specifically, I want them to know that my heart is heavy and I will be thinking about them in the days to come.

I remember those little guys playing around the courtside when we practiced and played in those late 50's and that is the way I will always remember Billy with his bright smile and that beautiful head of red hair.

When I listed to the report of the tragedy via the tape from KTRK-TV in Houston, I was struck by the words of his current and former players. The words they spoke about Billy were the words we have all spoken about George - role model, teacher, friend, mentor, father-figure. It was good to hear that he carried the Carlisle tradition forward and I am sure his sons will do the same.

God's peace to all in this time of grief.

[Bruce Montague]

Sally and I are so saddened by the loss of Billy. Our hearts and prayers go out to his wife and children and, of course, to George and Peggy and all the rest of the Carlisle family.

[Garland Smith]

My condolences to Coach and Peggy and the rest of the Carlisle family for their greatloss. My thoughts are with you all.

[Dan Jensen]

A Baylor fan website that I frequent regularly had a thread about Billy. I have selected a few posts that I think would interest readers of this blog.

The Stache

Billy and I attended Baylor during the same four years. I knew him via my job on The Lariat, and I also had classes with him. He was a very nice guy, and a good basketball player. This is quite stunning; my prayers and thoughts will be with his family.

iconoclast

I went to high school with Billy for a year at Clear Lake and throughout the 73-77 Baylor years. He was truly a nice guy. Same for his brother and his father, who was the principal at Clear Lake High School back then.

WarriorBear

My first year of teaching/coaching was in 1969/70. First game for my 9th grade basketballers was at Clear Creek vs Billy's team. I'd been offered a job by his classy dad, but chose Brazosport High instead...for football reasons. Billy was super and we lost, though we got 'revenge' when they came to Freeport later in the season. Billy was a fine ball handler & shooter, too. I'm sad to learn of his tragic passing.

Chuck Allen
BU '68 & '69

txkypreacherskid

I didn't know Coach Carlisle personally, but I had seen him in action several times, since Deer Park and LaPorte are such fierce rivals. The most shocking thing to me, was Billy always looked to be in great shape. He was a very smart coach, and very intense during games. Like others have said, I've never heard anything but good things about that entire family, and I've lived down here since January of '71.

I feel badly for those of you who knew him personally. These things just aren't supposed to happen without warning, especially to a good man. This is the second outstanding coach, Deer Park has lost to premeature death recently.


ybbodeus

The Bears came to Memphis to play the Tigers my senior year in high school. It remains one of only three times I've ever cheered against the team I grew up watching. It was in December of '76, I believe. It was a big deal, because three of the Bears' team members were from Memphis....Tony Rufus from Manasas, Larry Spicer who lead Northside High to the state championship the year before and George Jones, for whom Larry had managed to secure a scholarship.

The Tigers had not wanted George, so Larry went with the team that would take him; he was Larry's best friend and followed him to UAB, when things didn't work out in Waco. I never got the skinny from Carroll as to what went wrong, but it must have been bad since Carroll himself hit the road the next year.

I don't remember much about the game, other than Tiger fans giving me grief for being a "turncoat", they said. It wasn't ugly by today's comparison to fan behavior. I do remember the Bears working their way back from a large deficit to a point that they could have taken the lead, had someone....yeah, Billy....made a 1 & 1 opportunity late in the game. Youu could see the dejection in his body language as he went back up the floor and the Tigers held on to win by 7, I think...80-73 sounds right.

Anyway, Billy was having to go up against smaller but faster guards and had played tough despite the speed advantage he suffered that night. Funny thing...actually strange thing, I guess...was that I was thinking about Billy and that game only Friday night, for whatever reason I don't know.

I got a chance to talk to him and the team after the game, and Billy was down. He was a good teammate, I could tell, but I think he took it too hard that night. Teams lose games, not players, we tried to tell him, which he acknowledged, but I don't think he took the encouragement of a 17 year old he'd never met to heart....kinda like half the posters, here, now that I'm 46.

I feel terrible for his family and for him. Tough loss for all who love Baylor.

Sin Bad

I remember Billy Carlisle as a tough-nosed player, not a great college player but a solid one. He was a good leader. I met him only once, and he struck me as a fine young man. But my strongest memory of him is an embarrassing one. I attended a Baylor game at H-O-T Coliseum. It was a conference game, but I can't recall the opponent. The other team had scored, and Carlisle took the ball out of bounds. He must have forgotten for a moment where he was and thought he was in practice, because he didn't pass the ball inbounds. He just walked it in and started dribbling. The ref had already turned his back and started up the court, and didn't realize what happened until he heard the crowd yelling; then he turned back around and saw that Carlisle had the ball. Carlisle put his hand to his head as if to say, "Doh!" I have never seen that in a college game before or since. I am sure he got a lot of teasing about that one. Fortunately, he seemed like a young man who could look back years later and laugh about it. I hope so. It is sad to lose someone so young.

Billy would be proud of his former player! Ryan Bright a former player at Deer Park, scored 20 points, and pulled down a game high 12 rebounds, in leading Sam Houston to a 78-72 victory over rival Stephen F. Austin, thursday night in Huntsville, in the semifinals of the Southland Conference tournament. Ryan gives 110% effort every second of the game, as the radio announcer said, "he always seems to have his hand on the ball". I think this was instilled in him from Billy. You can see Ryan and the Bearkats, Sunday @ 1:00 PM on ESPN2, as they face Northwestern St., Louisiana, in the championship game, with the winner earning a berth in the NCAA tournament.

[Doug Hopkins]

Sorry this is so late. I knew Billy since Jr. High School. I went to Webster Jr. High (along with his fierce competitor and perhaps his closest friend, Hank Bauerschlag... who also died too soon), while Billy attended Seabrook. The Webster Jr. High basketball coach was none other than Jim Williams. Most memorable moments include a BB game between Webster and Seabrook. We were up by one when Seabrook took the ball out of bounds on their end. With time running out, they ran the picket fence to Billy at the top of the key who drained it. Broke our hearts (we never beat Seabrook that year). To add "insult" to injury, Seabrook had beat us in football that same year when a red-headed QB named Billy Carlisle ran the statue of liberty play in the 4th Quarter which resulted in the game-winning touchdown. Again, broke our hearts. I had the pleasure of knowing "Red", and playing along side him for two of the 19 years Clear Creek won the 24AAAA district championship, and the inaugural year at Lake in '73 (CC - CL...breakin' up is hard to do). I moved to Colorado the last semester of my senior year at Lake. Was informed of Hank's passing after graduating from Colorado State. My heart broke--esp. for his dad. Was informed of Red's passing by Alex Osmond, club pro at LaPorte CC. Again, the sting fades with time but never leaves--an indelible imprint on hearts too prone to break. I think of Hank and Billy often... leading Creek on to another championship. To Shannon & your sons, George (my principal at Lake), Peggy and Buddy, it seems exceedingly rare to find a man, friend--and I'm sure husband, father, brother and coach--of the fiber, character and qualities of Billy Carlisle. Thank you for sharing him with us. After a year without him, my prayers are still with you all.

[Mike McArdle]

Wow! Who knows where you stumble?1972....as a freshman in high school watching Billy and Hank....I was stunned and amazed. I was a shadow....I was part of everything -- having gym cvlass with Coach Williams at Webster, along with Coach Namola, (sp) and Columbo...... Teachers were Ms. Parish -- who became Mrs. Parsons.....and Claudine Miles, who taught choir.....

On this day, I have stummbled across a website that awakens memories from so long ago.....

sitting in the gym at CCHS, watching Hank, Billy, Craig, Steve, and others play extraordinary high school hoops.....

what a smile!!! What a past!!!

[Dan Jensen]

And what a lot of first names. Last names would be more informative and less confusing.

But, very glad you stumbled onto the site; I wish more would. Keep on coming in.

[Wyndon Carlisle]

Hey family!! It's Feb, 5 2009. I want to let you guys know George is doing good at his nursing home. When I went to see him he seemed to remember us.

Well, get back to me at [email protected]

[Paul Hackett]

I didn't know Buddy and Billy as well as I knew their sister, but I know what kind lof children he and Peggy raised and all of us should hope we did as good of a job with ours.

I do know a little how aboout how respected and loved Billy was at Deer Park. As I have mentioned before, my wife is a Choir Director and through her I have gotten to know the Fine Arts Director and Choir Director at DP, Barry Talley. Barry was a big sports nut and for year his was the voice of DP sports and was constantly at the games. On a couple of occasions, he and I have talked about what a loss it was when Billy passed. Not just for his basketball expertise but more so for the type of person he was.