Richard D. Bird

Richard D. Bird was born June 20, 1924, in Holliday, Texas, and he departed this life on November 9, 2016, in Childress, Texas. His parents were Deeb N. Bird and Anisa T. Bird.

Funeral services will be at 10 AM on Saturday, November 12, 2016 at the First United Methodist Church with Pastor Lou Ellerbrook officiating. Burial will follow in Childress Cemetery under the direction of Johnson Funeral Home.

Visitation will be held from 6 to 8 PM on Friday, November 11, 2016 at Johnson Funeral Home.

Richard graduated from Crowell High School in 1941, and after hitchhiking his way down to Austin, enrolled in the University of Texas. During his undergraduate days, WWII started, and he enlisted in the Army. He served in the Infantry and fought in the Battle of the Bulge. He was captured in the battle during the Christmas season of 1944. He was loaded onto a railroad cattle car, crowded with other prisoners, and sent to a stalag in Nazi Germany. Richard was liberated near the end of the war by Russian Cossacks. After the war, he returned to the University of Texas and thereafter started law school. He then graduated in 1948 from the University of Texas Law School. Richard scored the 2nd highest on the Texas Bar Exam which he took before graduating from law school so that he could immediately start working when he graduated.

Richard set up a sole practitioner law office in Childress, Texas, in 1948. He met his wife Katherine Laverne Bird, and they were married in 1950. Richard was elected County Judge in the early 1950's and served two terms. At the time of his service, he was the youngest County Judge in the State of Texas. He served on the Childress Independent School District Board of Trustees and for many years was the President of the School Board. Thereafter, he served on the Board of Trustees of the Childress Regional Hospital District, again serving for many years as the President of the Board. He served on various committees and boards which sought to bring industry to the City of Childress and Childress County.

Richard was a member of the Childress Lions Club, Philosopher's Coffee Club, Childress Masonic Lodge, a 32nd Degree Mason, and a Maskat Shriner. He served as Worshipful Master of the Local Masonic Lodge and was a past District Governor. Richard felt that a college education was invaluable, and therefore, starting in 1973, he annually recognized students who chose a path of higher education with the Bird Family Scholarship. Richard was a faithful member of the Childress First United Methodist Church and the Fellowship Class Sunday School Group. In his early years he taught Sunday School for the high school youth and thereafter, was a teacher for the Hughes Class.

In the legal profession, Richard was a member of the Texas State Bar, the American Bar Association, and was a past member of the District Grievance Committee. He tried cases throughout the State of Texas and was authorized to practice in all Courts including the U.S. Supreme Court. Many of his cases are published.

When Richard was not practicing law and representing his clients diligently, he spent quality time with his wife and family. He was devoted to his wife, Laverne Bird, for 66 years.

May we find great comfort in the fact he is reunited with those whom he joins in heaven; his devoted parents and brothers, Mike D. Bird and Albert D. Bird; many close relatives and dear friends. He is survived by his wife, Laverne; daughter, Debra Anisa Brown and husband, Keith Brown of Austin; daughter Susan Ann Rabe and husband Dale A. Rabe, Sr., of Austin; son, Steven R. Bird and wife, Laura Bird of Childress. His nine grandchildren Heather Eaves and her husband, Jason, of Austin; Ryan Brown and his wife, Mandy, of Austin; Candice Deyerle and her husband, Scott, of Houston; Dale Rabe, Jr., and his wife, Lori of Childress; Kathy Kull and her husband, Jimmy, of Austin; Brandon Rabe and his wife, Vanessa, of Austin; Sean Rabe of Austin. Jessica Boedeker and her husband, Luke of Childress; and Andrew S. Bird of Waco. He was blessed with great-grandchildren as well; Kyle, Kailey and Brett Eaves; Tyler, Lexi and Chance Brown; Elizabeth Deyerle; Savannah, Drake and Max Rabe; James, Audrey, Jack and Winslow Kull; William and Katherine Rabe; and a baby girl, Hartlee Boedeker, whose birth we eagerly anticipate in January.

Richard lived his long and full life by the Word of our Lord and left the following scripture written in his home surely as comfort to those of us who love him so and reminder to all whose lives he touched; The Gospel of John, "Let not your heart be troubled; ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there you may be also."

Memorials may be made to a charity of your choice.