Winifred Byrd

Winifred Weeks Byrd, 92, passed away Tuesday, September 20, 2011, at a local Nursing facility. Funeral services are scheduled for 2:00p.m., Saturday, September 24, 2011 at St. Paul United Methodist Church. There will be a reception immediately following the service at the church. A private interment will be in Elmwood Memorial Park

under the direction of Elliott-Hamil Funeral Home, 542 Hickory St. Visitation will be Friday evening from 5 - 7 p.m. at the funeral home. Winifred Weeks was born December 6, 1918 in Claude, TX to Elliott and Elizabeth McLaren Weeks. She was a great-grand niece of famed cattleman and plainsman Ch a r l e s Goodnight, in whose home she sat for Sunday

meals. She graduated from Claude High School in 1935, attended Texas Tech for two years then transferred to the University of Texas at Austin, where she graduated with a B.B.A. in 1939. Winifred taught high school at Schulenburg and Hillsboro, and then returned to Austin to pursue an M.B.A. degree at UT. During World War II she worked for the Texas Department of Banking. In mid-life, Winifred resumed her teaching career, retiring from Cooper High School in1976. In February 1946 she married childhood sweetheart Lee Byrd in Austin, where he had begun law studies at the University of Texas following his war service. They moved to Abilene in July 1948 where he established a well-known law practice, Byrd, Shaw and Weeks, later serving as Mayor o f A b i l e n e f r o m 1963-1966. Lee Byrd died in 1985. She is survived by a son, Charles, of Los Angeles,

California, daughter Susan Burr and her husband John of Los Altos, California and daughter Ellen Griffith and her husband David of Austin. She is also survived by two grandsons, Elliott Burr of San Francisco and David Burr of Los Altos and numerous

nieces and nephews and their families . Her brother James Weeks preceded her in death in 2004. Winifred Byrd was an avid reader and an enthusiastic bridge player with a wide circle of friends and remained active and independent

well into her 90th year. She loved playing the piano and had a keen and well-informed interest in American politics. She was a member of St. Paul United Methodist Church in Abilene for over sixty years. The family plans an endowment in her name at the University of Texas at Austin honoring her life.

You may view and sign guestbook at www.elliotthamilfuneralhome. com.