Judith Ann Bird's Obituary
Judith Ann Bird, age 87, died Wednesday, April 5, 2023, at Mercy Hospital in Rogers, Arkansas. She was born April 9, 1935, in Southampton, New York to George C. and Alice V. Strong.
Judy grew up with two older brothers and two younger brothers on a potato farm located on Strongs Lane in Water Mill, on eastern Long Island. The family later also had a winter home in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. She was often seen in childhood pictures with her dog, Patches.
She was a graduate of Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, New York, which at the time, was a private all-female school. She worked in the personnel departments of Mobil Oil and Inland Steel. She was a supervisor in the securities research departments of Merrill Lynch and Francis I. DuPont, a brokerage firm located at One Wall Street. She was a strong advocate of equal pay for equal work.
She first met her husband of 54 years, Jerry Kenneth Bird, when they both worked in the research department of then Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner, and Smith in New York. They were later married in the side chapel of the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church. In their years together, they lived in New York City, Fayetteville, East Hampton on Long Island, Bella Vista, and Rogers.
Judy was a wonderful, warm person. If you met Judy, you liked Judy, and yet she did like her privacy.
She was a life-long writer and reader. She participated in the creative-writing workshops of Jim Whitehead, Bill Harrison, and Miller Williams at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. Along with Marijane Meaker at Ashawagh Hall in Springs, New York. Her short story “Love Out of Hand” was published in the East Hampton Star. She played the piano, organ, and flute. She especially enjoyed chamber music. Along with Jerry, they worked to help start the Music Festival of Arkansas, which held a series of summer concerts during the 1980s in Fayetteville. She was an original member of the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. In the past, she served on the Altar Guild at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Fayetteville. She served as a volunteer for Meals on Wheels and the Angel Food ministry. Judy was a cancer survivor. In 1999, Judy was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and underwent chemotherapy and radiation therapy.
She enjoyed good food, was a wonderful cook and a collector of recipes. During her travels with Jerry, going to a good restaurant was a high priority. Their foreign travels took them to France, Italy, England, Scotland, Switzerland, and the Netherlands, as well as two Atlantic crossings on the ocean liner, The France.
Judy took French courses in college and studied at Alliance Francaise in New York City. She was fluent enough to navigate the Paris Metro and could translate much of a French menu. Another priority while traveling was walking around the area or a city. The walking often included one of her two Australian Terriers, Dandee and Caiti. She enjoyed each their companionship for about 14 years. Two of Dandee’s favorite places were the farmer’s market on the square in Fayetteville and the “ocean beach” in East Hampton. Caiti like the Tanyard Creek trail in Bella Vista, and a sidewalk table with snacks at the Market at Pinnacle Point in Rogers. Her gray Tabby cat, Bijou, wanted nothing to do with walking. In her early life, she was a stray kitten who came in from the cold on a bitter Super Bowl Sunday. After that, she has been a 100% indoor cat who liked family time on her favorite chair with her favorite people.
A graveside service will be held at a later date at Pinnacle Memorial Gardens in Rogers.
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