Like his cousins of the Phillips family, Billie attended St. Mary's Catholic School during the times of school segregation. He did not like it there too much, due to harsh treatment, and ran away to live with his father in Sonora, Texas, where he attended Spanish school. When his father passed away, he returned to Fredericksburg at the age of 12 or 13, and returned to St. Mary's. Like many in his family, Billie picked up some German. In the recording below, he recalls an incident where his uncle Irvin taught him the proper German response to some remarks at St. Mary's. Later Billie farmed and helped others farm. He was able to help translate from Spanish to German when Spanish workers and German farm owners did business. Billie emphasizes today that throughout his life relations between black and white Germans in Fredericksburg have been better than anywhere else he has seen in Texas.