{"id":210806,"date":"2026-03-19T03:01:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-19T03:01:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/210806\/"},"modified":"2026-03-19T03:01:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-19T03:01:08","slug":"east-lubbock-art-house-pays-tribute-to-billie-mcqueen-caviel-who-died-monday-at-age-90","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/210806\/","title":{"rendered":"East Lubbock Art House pays tribute to Billie McQueen Caviel, who died Monday at age 90"},"content":{"rendered":"

LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) – Lubbock is mourning the loss of Billie McQueen Caviel tonight, who passed away on Monday at age 90.<\/p>\n

Services are pending with Griffin Mortuary.<\/p>\n

East Lubbock Art House paid tribute to Billie on their Facebook page on Wednesday, saying \u201cIf the Art House was open, Billie would be there every day.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Art House says Billie was \u201cinstrumental\u201d in conducting their Spring Break Art Camp and talked about how much she \u201ccared about the next generation of leaders.\u201d<\/p>\n

Billie and her husband Alfred owned and operated Caviel\u2019s Pharmacy at the corner of Avenue A and 17th Street for nearly 50 years, the first African American couple in the United States to jointly own and manage their own pharmacy.<\/p>\n

The building, now known as the Caviel Museum, reopened in 2015 as \u201cthe first museum in West Texas dedicated to celebrating African American heritage<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Exhibits include legacies of African-American medical practice, education, and other aspects of community life.<\/p>\n

The museum operates as an extension of the Lubbock Roots Historical Arts Council<\/a> and is an active participant in the First Friday Art Trail, partnering with the East Lubbock Art House \u201cto showcase special exhibitions and collaborative programs.\u201d<\/p>\n

You can learn more about the museum here on their website<\/a>, including details about the mural on the building\u2019s south side, honoring African American leaders in Lubbock:<\/p>\n

\"MuralMural features: Alfred Caviel \u2013 Owner of Caviel Pharmacy;
\nBillie Caviel \u2013 Owner of Caviel Pharmacy;
\nTed \u201cTheodore\u201d Phea \u2013 The Eastside Boys and Girls Club bears his name;
\nEric Strong \u2013 Community leader, Roots Council founder, and longtime director of Texas Tech\u2019s Upward Bound program;
\nGeorge Woods \u2013 Namesake of George Woods Park;
\nMae Simmons \u2013 Esteemed educator with a local community center named in her honor;
\nE.C. Struggs \u2013 Longtime principal at Dunbar Middle School;
\nT.J. Patterson \u2013 Former Lubbock City Council Member(Lubbock Cultural Arts Foundation)<\/p>\n

Featuring the faces of:<\/p>\n

Alfred Caviel \u2013 Owner of Caviel PharmacyBillie Caviel \u2013 Owner of Caviel PharmacyTed \u201cTheodore\u201d Phea \u2013 The Eastside Boys and Girls Club bears his nameEric Strong \u2013 Community leader, Roots Council founder, and longtime director of Texas Tech\u2019s Upward Bound programGeorge Woods \u2013 Namesake of George Woods ParkMae Simmons \u2013 Esteemed educator with a local community center named in her honorE.C. Struggs \u2013 Longtime principal at Dunbar Middle SchoolT.J. Patterson \u2013 Former Lubbock City Council Member<\/p>\n

The Lubbock Cultural Arts Foundation has more about the museum here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ll update this story once details about services have been announced.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 KCBD. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) – Lubbock is mourning the loss of Billie McQueen Caviel tonight, who passed away on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":210807,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[168,170,169],"class_list":["post-210806","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-lubbock","tag-lubbock","tag-lubbock-headlines","tag-lubbock-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210806","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=210806"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210806\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/210807"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=210806"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=210806"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=210806"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}