Doris A. Byrd

Ma Byrd and Mama Byrd” was born March 17, 1936, in Vicksburg, Mississippi, to Clifton and Fannie Jones. Doris departed her life at home on Thursday, March 17, 2022.

Doris accepted Christ as her Savior at the age of 11, August 17, 1947, at St. Paul Missionary Baptist Church, in Bovina, Mississippi. Doris was a member of Abyssinian Missionary Baptist Church.

Doris did her elementary education in Bovina, Mississippi. The family then moved to the Mississippi Delta where she attended Tralake Junior High School then finished her high school education at Arcola High School. After High School, Doris moved to Indianapolis, IN., and secured a job at RCA, where she worked for 11 years. She then went to work for the United States Postal Service; until she retired in 1992.

Doris had a love for the piano. She studied under Mrs. Catherine Rogers and Mr. John Oakley. Later, she became the pianist at Northside Wesleyan Church. In 1993, Doris attended Baptist Bible College/Cross Road Bible College. In 2011, she attended J. Laverne Tyson School of Ministries. After graduation, she was ordained as Minister. Doris had a big heart for teaching the word of God. She was a Sunday School teacher at Northside Wesleyan Church, Nazarene Missionary Baptist Church, Liberation AME Zion Church and Abyssinia Missionary Baptist Church. For years, Doris taught Saturday morning Bible Study in her home.

Doris loved sewing and the outdoors. She enjoyed working in her yard, planting flowers, pruning weeds and gardening, which she found soothing and relaxing.

Doris was married to Johnnie Lee Byrd, Sr., who proceeded her in Death, February 14, 2019. In this union, they raised their three children.

Doris was proceeded in death by her parents, 3 brothers, Henry Mitchell, Chicago, IL., Sheriff Otho Jones, Vicksburg, MS., Allen Kemp Jones, Indianapolis, IN., one sister, Ethel “Muttie” Jones-Primm, Indianapolis, IN., 2 great nieces, Donna Jean O’Hara, Jackson, MS., and Penny Jones, Indianapolis, IN.

Doris leaves behind to cherish her memories her sons, Ty Jones (Michelle), McCordsville, IN., Johnny L. Byrd, Jr., Indianapolis, IN., her daughter, Rhonda L. Byrd, Indianapolis, IN and her sister, Mrs. Betty J. Harper (Leslie), Jackson, MS. Two grandsons, Joseph Jones, Washington State, and Marcus LeVert (LaNeash) Honolulu, Hawaii. Two grand-daughters, Tanzania Ferguson, Indianapolis, IN., Whitney Leacock (Ricardo) Honolulu, Hawaii, one great-grand daughter Alyya Leacock (who she called her baby peach), 3 great-grand sons, Kenneth LeVert, Phoenix and Avalon Leacock, all of Honolulu, Hawaii.

Special relatives, nephews Desmond Jones, Indianapolis, IN., Rick O’Hara (Georgia) Bovina, MS., and Ronnie O’Hara, Israel. Cousins Thelma Anderson, Bovina, MS., Shirley Davis, Aurora, IL. Three goddaughters, Janet Sneed, Griszelda Floyd, and Sylvia Stokes, Indianapolis, IN., and one godson, Keith Gaines, Indianapolis, IN.

Doris has host of other nephews, nieces, cousins and all her other godchildren who were near and dear to her heart who called her “Mother, Ma Byrd, Mama Byrd or Mother Byrd,” from the churches and her Arlington Golden Knight Girls and Son

My last wishes are to be buried in the St. Paul Cemetery in Bovina, MS with the rest of my family.