Phyllis "Katara" Byrd Seifert

Born in October 1949 in St. Louis, Missouri, to Luther Orben Byrd and Margaret Dorothy Lyons Byrd, Katara earned her horticulture degree in her twenties and, later, a nursing degree from Tennessee State University. In the mid-1970s she met David Robert Seifert, who she married in 1977. They shared a love for music, art, and travel. They visited London, Paris, St. Maarten, and Hawaii. They enjoyed gathering with friends for cookouts, boating, and celebrations. She loved expanding her horizons through reading of all sorts, a love that never faded.

Katara and David had two sons, Brian Robert (1981) and Eric James (1984), and together lived for several years in Nashville, Tennessee, before they divorced in 1992. After the boys grew up, her love for nature and search for enlightenment led her on adventures around the country and further— visiting Bosnia-Herzegovina, Italy, and Joshua Tree, then taking up residence in Flat Rock, North Carolina, and the beaches of Kauaʻi, Hawaiʻi. Like John Muir, she regularly felt strongly, “The mountains are calling, and I must go.” She always followed the call. Her message to her sons was to go and do the thing. Embrace adventure. Enjoy the experience.

Quick to converse with all she met, Katara never knew a stranger. She connected with many throughout her life over a love of cooking, caring for plants, affection for cats, and shared spirituality. She was never afraid to let you know her thoughts.

After moving to Austin in recent years, she enjoyed playing cards with neighbors and, especially, spending Sundays with her young grandson, August, whom she adored.

Katara is survived by her sons Brian (Brandy Dishner) Seifert, Eric (Claire) Seifert, and grandson, August; siblings Tom (Judy) Byrd, Paul (Nancy) Byrd, Rita Majnerich, Maureen (Steve) Lenz, Norma Jeanne (Joe Rosselot) Byrd, and Rich (Debbie) Byrd; as well as many, many additional family members and friends. She was predeceased by her former husband, David, as well as siblings Mary Louise Byrd and Larry (Faye) Byrd.

She was a woman that could never be forgotten by any she encountered.

A celebration of life with family will take place at a later date.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in her memory to The Pisgah Conservancy (pisgahconservancy.org) in western North Carolina.