Joey Don Biddle

Joey Don Biddle, 57, of Smiths Station, AL, passed away Thursday, July 9, 2015.

Funeral services will be held at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time on Monday July 13, 2015 at Vance Memorial Chapel with Pastor Jeff Murphy officiating. The family will receive friends from 5:00 p.m.- 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time at Vance Memorial Chapel in Phenix City, AL on Sunday, July 12, 2015.

Joey was born June 5, 1958 in Fort Payne, AL to the late William Sylvester Biddle and Fannie Croft Biddle. He met his adoring wife in 1979 and they married July 18, 1980. They had two daughters that he loved beyond words.

Joey was a coach, administrator, and educator and served the students of Lee County for 30 years. He loved the students and friends who came to know him as “Coach Biddle” even well after his coaching days were over. After 27 years with the Lee County Board of Education, he retired in 2014.

His faith was very important to him, as was evident to most everyone he met. He was a man who knew that even mistakes could not ruin God's plan for us. He was baptized by his brother-in-law, Craig Gavin, in 2014 and loved to volunteer with his church family at MyChurch in Columbus, GA. He noted in one of his notebooks that it was his dream to one day stand before a crowd of one, and that is just what he is doing now.

He loved to golf and ride his bike, as well as spend time playing and gardening with his grandchildren whom he adored. Joey loved his family more than he could express and they will always remember his two favorite things to say: “Love ya, mean it” and “Tell them I said 'duh huh.' They'll know what you mean.” Joey is preceded in death by his father William Sylvester Biddle and mother Fannie Croft Biddle. He is survived by his wife Cynthia Gavin Biddle; daughter Amanda Biddle, of Phenix City, AL; foster grandson, who is lovingly referred to as “Little Man,” and whom he considered his own; daughter and son-in-law Samantha and Dana Phillips, of Phenix City, AL; granddaughters Addie Grace and Lydia Phillips, whom he dearly loved; brother and sister-in-law Larry and Peggy Biddle, of Sylvania, AL; brother DeWayne Biddle, of Roswell, GA; sister Kathy Biddle, of Roswell, GA; and a host of extended family.

In lieu of flowers the family asks donations be made to either The University of Alabama RISE School (www.riseschool.ua.edu) PO Box 870305 Tuscaloosa, AL 35487 or The Alabama Baptist Children's Homes (www.alabamachild.org) PO Box 361767 Birmingham, AL 35236.