Ionia County MI Archives Obituaries.....Bird, Dorothy M. (Westbrook) 2015
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Sandy Heintzelman sheintz@iserv.net October 16, 2017, 7:06 am

Greenville Daily News, May 2015

Dorothy M. Bird, 98, of Belding, passed away Wednesday morning, May 13, 2015, at
her home in Green Acres in Greenville.  Dorothy was born April 4, 1917, in Ionia
the daughter of Mark and Leona (Coe) Westbrook.

She graduated in 1933, at the young age of 16, from Ionia High School and had to
wait a year to attend County Normal where she earned a teaching certificate. 
Later during her married life, Dorothy attended Michigan State University, where
she earned a B.A. in education and a M.A. in counseling.

On Aug. 9, 1941, Dorothy married Wilfrid (Bill) E. Bird, Belding, where they
owned and operated the Bird Dairy Farm until the late 1950s, then farmed and
later established Bird Berry Farm.  

Together Dorothy and Bill enjoyed 58 years of marriage and had four children,
Marjorie Byrnes Hansen of Belding, William (Liz) Bird of Ionia, Samuel (Mary)
Bird of Haslett, Jeanne (Joe) Crawley of Penn Valley, Calif.; grandchildren,
Kevin Byrnes, Conrad and Emily Bird, Jennifer (Kyle) Hammes and Michael Crawley.
 Also surviving are her sister Eleanor Westbrook (Colin) Williams of Saranac. 
Dorothy was preceded in death by her husband; parents; her brothers, Thomas,
Robert and George Westbrook; and a grandson, Kasey Courser.

In 2006, Dorothy married former high school classmate, Glenn Waters of Midland.
 They resided in Belding and then Green Acres in Greenville.  Glenn at 102
survives Dorothy.

Dorothy taught country school in Ionia County prior to marrying Bill and then
raised a family and returned to teaching when her children were older.  She
taught in Orleans, then Belding Area Schools as a math teacher then school
counselor and completed 28 years of teaching.

Dorothy was active in 4-H, winning a national championship in clothing judging
in 1935.  She later was the leader of the Orleans 4-H club when her children
were 4-H’ers.  She was active in the United Methodist Church, Belding, taking on
a variety of leadership roles, including chaperoning a teen group to New York
City.  She had also been a member of Good Fellowship Club, Eastern Star Doric
Chapter 75, Ionia County Farm Bureau, BEA, MEA, Delta Kappa Gamma and Belding
Thimble Club.  Dorothy always said the most important part of her life was family.

Funeral services will be 2 p.m. Saturday at the Belding United Methodist Church
with Pastor Kim DeLong officiating.  Visitation will be one hour before the
service.  Private interment will be in Greene Cemetery.  Those considering an
expression of sympathy are welcome to consider a memorial contribution to the
Belding United Methodist Church or the Belding Library.  Funeral care has been
entrusted to the Johnson-Feuerstein Funeral Home, Belding.


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