Ralph BIRDSEY

1936 - 2019

BIRDSEY, Ralph Talmadge Aug. 31, 1936 - Mar. 27, 2019 Atlanta, Georgia Ralph Talmadge Birdsey died March 27, 2019 at home, surrounded by family and caregivers, following a gracious struggle with Altzheimer's Disease. He leaves his loving wife, Virginia (Ginger) Solomon; sons Ralph Talmadge Birdsey, Jr. (Tal) and his wife Rose McVay, Peter Christopher Birdsey and his wife Levymae Gannaban; sister Cynthia (Cindy) Birdsey Burris, and brother the Rev. Robert Bruce Birdsey and wife Brenda Hicks; his grandchildren Henry and Calder Birdsey, and Dalia Wolkoff, and Christopher, Sanford, and Phoebe Birdsey; as well as many other family members and lifelong friends. Born and raised in Macon, Georgia, Birdsey was the son of Herbert Ford and Cynthia Chappel Birdsey. He graduated from Lanier High School, attended the University of the South at Suwannee and graduated with honors in English Literature from Yale College. After earning an MBA from the Wharton Business School he won a Fullbright Fellowship "to study chicken farming in New Zealand." He returned to Macon to run the family firm, Birdsey Flour and Feed Mills, later merged with ConAgra. He fulfilled his military obligation by serving in the Air Force Reserve, and took a leadership role in local civic affairs, including a valiant effort to save treasured Baconsfield Park for public use. Later he worked as Chief Financial Officer at Charter Medical Corporation before moving to Atlanta in 1973 where he was employed by Conti Commodities Services and A. G. Edwards, afterwhich he was self-employed, providing financial management services for clients. For a period he dropped out of the business world to pursue graduate studies in literature at Emory University and to teach English. Music was among his lifelong passions, particularly Mozart, and he supported a number of Atlanta music organizations. But his primary love was literature, from Chaucer to Mark Twain to Flannery O'Connor, and he continued to share this love with friends and family, writing, memorizing and reading poetry to the end of his life. He also loved nature, being an early supporter of the Georgia Conservancy, and spent many afternoons fishing and canoeing the rivers of Georgia, kayaking and birding in the tidal rivers and creeks of coastal Georgia, and sitting on beaches building sand castles with Ginger, his children and grandchildren. He also held great respect for education, supporting the schools he had attended and in which his wife and children taught (Paideia School and Ben Franklin Academy in Atlanta and The North Branch School in Ripton, Vermont.) A celebration of his life for family and intimate friends was held in his home on March 29. In lieu of flowers donations may be made to the Atlanta Community Food Bank (acfb.org)