Mildred Byrd, a longtime Mosier, Ore., resident, died Sept. 2, 2005, at St. Vincent’s Hospital in Portland, Ore. She was 82 years of age.
Services will be held on Saturday, Sept. 10 at 4 p.m. at Anderson’s Tribute Center, Hood River.
Mildred was born Feb. 24, 1923, in Muskogee, Okla., to John and Mary (Williams) Bush. She moved to Oregon at age two and was raised and educated in Gresham, Ore.
She attended Bible School in Seattle, Wash., and then married C. Douglas Byrd on June 6, 1942. She worked at a box factory in Gresham prior to moving to Hood River in 1950.
Mildred worked as bookkeeper for a local Chevrolet dealership for several years and then moved to Idaho for a year. She moved to The Dalles, Ore., where she worked as a bookkeeper for Pioneer Electric and P.C.A. Federal Land Bank and sold real estate. Mildred and Doug then purchased a cherry orchard in Mosier, Ore., which they owned and operated from 1963 to 1983.
Mildred also worked with her daughter with Hickory Farms for 25 years. Mildred was a member of the Elks, Eagles and Moose lodges, the Ladies Extension in Mosier and was also a 50-year member of the Mosier Grange.
She enjoyed her family, friends, painting, sewing, golf, and playing piano while singing. She enjoyed attending Gateway Presbyterian Church in The Dalles. She also loved going to Yuma, Ariz., and at age 82, designed and built a winter home on the golf course there next to her daughter’s.
Her husband, son-in-law and nine brothers and sisters preceded her in death.
Survivors include her son, Doug Byrd, and his wife, Joy, of Florence, Ore.; Greg Byrd, and his wife, Tanya, of Mosier, Ore.; daughter Anita Gannon and her special friend, John Buckley; and Mildred’s very special friend and partner Dick Tomlinson of Mosier, Ore. Six grandchildren, three step-grandsons, 10 great-grandchildren and numerous nieces and nephews also survive.
Interment will be at Mosier Cemetery.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Hood River Elks Hospice Fund, c/o Anderson’s Tribute Center, 1401 Belmont Hood River, OR, 97031.
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