Katy Jane Billie with her husband Mark Billie. Photo courtesy of Mark Billie

Katy Jayne Billie only let one tattoo artist put ink on her.

Now Mark Billie plans to work with that artist, Doug Landry, of Portland, to get a tattoo of his wife’s favorite flower over his heart, using ink mixed with some of her ashes.

The 42-year-old Standish woman died this month after her car crashed into a tree on Brighton Avenue in Portland.

While it’s not clear exactly what caused the crash, the state’s report shows that her vehicle crossed the center line while passing another car before she swerved to avoid oncoming traffic, hit a utility pole, then the tree.

Portland police say it was a single-vehicle crash and won’t release any details about the investigation. But Mark Billie said he heard that another driver may have been involved, and he wants them to know that his wife was a forgiving person and wouldn’t want this to ruin their lives.

“Katy, of all people in the world, would have forgiven (them) and wanted them to get help,” Billie said.

Katy Billie had an 8-year-old daughter, Ava Grace, who was her “whole world,” Mark Billie said. She knew what her daughter liked and didn’t like, and carried around drawings and knickknacks that Ava made for her.

“The main thing in her life that she wanted to do was give her kid a better life,” Billie said. “That was the most important thing to her by far.”

This fall, he and his wife took Ava on a trip to Massachusetts, where she explored Legoland and played in a trampoline park. They dreamed of finding a home with a big garden to live in with Mark Billie’s 4-year-old daughter, Rosie, and blend their two families.

Mark Billie remembers his wife’s compassion and said he wants anyone involved in her fatal crash to forgive themselves. Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Portland Press Herald

Katy Billie loved plants and before the pandemic worked for her own landscaping business designing and planting ornamental gardens. She had dozens of houseplants, Mark Billie said, so many it took nearly two hours to water them all.

The yield from their tomato plants last summer was “bordering on commercial,” but when he asked what they should do with the towering fruits, Katy Billie’s response was to “buy taller stakes.”

She could also be critical of herself, Mark Billie said. She stuck to what she thought was right and often challenged herself, like with hourslong home workouts and training for ultramarathons. A natural athlete, she picked up backcountry skiing like a pro, he said.

While Katy Billie sometimes struggled with her mental health, substance use and dealing with childhood trauma, Mark Billie said she was doing well before the crash. She was sober, had a job at Hannaford in Falmouth and picked up exercising again.

“She was healthy and making the right choices,” Mark Billie said. “I was so proud of her; I told her that all the time.”

Katy Jane Billie and her daughter Ava Grace Rutland Photo courtesy of Mark Billie

She combated her insomnia by rearranging her house and writing poetry and short stories. Mark Billie will always keep a special poem she wrote for him in his email inbox, he said.

Most of her time she spent with her husband just talking, often juggling many different conversations at once.

“I was never able to have that with anybody before, to be able to just fully let my head pour out and be understood,” Mark Billie said. “Katy just got it all. It was stupendous. That is what I will most miss about her.”

A public service for Katy Billie will be held on Feb. 15 at the Refuge Church in Windham.