Dozens of Whidbey Island residents recently came together to give the family of the late Billy Ray Hibbs a gift they will never forget.

It started out as a three family friends who were going to paint a room and fix the floor at the Admirals Cove home. Somehow, the effort snowballed into a full-fledged Extreme Makeover.

“It looks like a brand new house,” said Jeanine Hibbs, Billy Ray’s wife. “I’ve never been one for words, but no amount of words can ever express how grateful I am.”

Billy Ray, a popular and happy-go-lucky Coupeville deputy marshal, died from a heart attack Feb. 2 when he was jogging in Oak Harbor. He left behind his wife, Jeanine Hibbs, three children and an island full of admirers.

The family returned home last month after going to the burial in Texas and spending a few weeks with Jeanine’s relatives in West Virginia. She and her children were greeted by about 40 folks and a house she could barely recognize.

“It was overwhelming,” she said.

The first thing she said after getting out of the car was, “Who can I hug first?”

Jeanine said three of Billy Ray’s best friends, Island County Sheriff’s Deputies Rick Felici, Darren Crownover and Jeff Myers, asked if they could repair a hole in the family’s floor and paint the walls while they were gone.

Jeanine said the house was “a work in progress” that just never got completed.

Ray Heltsley, another friend who helped with the work, said the remodeling project quickly expanded as more and more people offered to help out.

“They just went crazy,” he said.

The work the ragtag team of amateurs and professional were able to accomplish is impressive.

They replaced the carpet with Pergo flooring; installed a new heating system and new baseboards; painted the exterior of the house, the interior walls and the shed out back; bricked in the area around the wood stove; put in a new countertop and new sink; fixed the failing electrical wiring; stained the deck; hauled away junk from the backyard and leveled the area.

“My husband wasn’t one to get rid of his things,” Jeanine said. “I was sure they would find a Winnebago back there.”

Kids who knew Bill Ray from Woodward’s Tae Kwon Do Academy, where he taught the martial art, made a brick pathway out of cement bricks that people had chopped in half with their bare hands.

In the front yard is the crowning achievement. They completely landscaped the area, creating beauty bark-covered beds for flowers and trees.

Maria Allen, another family friend who helped with the project, is trying to cobble together a list of all the individuals and businesses who contributed to the cause in one way or another. She said it truly represents a community coming together for a good cause.

“The whole community knew him,” she said.

Brian Swanson, owner of Whidbey Custom Homes, and his employees donated their time. Heltsley said even some of his customers joined in.

Fine Line Painting painted the outside of the house; Ace Hardware donated the paint. Lumbermen’s donated the flooring, landscape blocks, the countertop and stone. Ed’s Construction donated gravel for the driveway. Concrete Nor’West gave dirt; and AA Electric did the electrical work. Mailliards Landing donated bark; the County Deli supplied sandwiches; Eaton Plumbing put in the sink; Penn Cove Drywall patched walls; Columbia Paint donated paint; and CH Tile did the stone work.

Dozens of people also rolled up their sleeves and went to work. They included: Felici’s entire family, Dan Todd, Mel Lolmaugh, Helen Desmond, Laura Price, Jerilee Gudmunson, Evan and Christy Tingstad, Jamie Woodward, Megan Donaldson, Sandy Brown, Lenny Marlborough, Dennis Dickenson, Mike and Amy Abercrombie, Sara and Robert Beadles, Keenan and Micah Lanata, Doug and Jan Bock, Mark Rodney and on and on.

Jeanine said many other people have helped out in a plethora of other ways. Her close friend, Gina Young, took care of her children and was very supportive. Brent Durley brought her and the kids back from the airport and coordinated the big homecoming.

“I knew Billy Ray had a lot of friends,” Jeanine said. “But it was beyond me how many people care about him. He really touched a lot of people’s lives. I was truly blessed to have him in my life.”

E-mail jstensland@whidbeynewstimes.com or 675-6611.