Mary Gehringer Byrd

Mary Gehringer Byrd, beloved wife, mother, daughter, and sister, passed away peacefully on March 12, surrounded by family, after a courageous one-year battle with ovarian cancer. She was born on January 28, 1960 in Seminole, Oklahoma to Murray and Norma Gehringer. Mary grew up in Kingfisher, Oklahoma, graduating from Kingfisher High School, and earned Bachelor's and Master's of Science degrees in speech-language pathology from the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond, Oklahoma. She married Greg Byrd at the First Nazarene Church in Kingfisher on August 12, 1989. Mary worked as a speech-language pathologist for the Oklahoma City and Rochester, New York public schools prior to moving to Longmont in 1994, thereafter working for Kaiser-Permanente until her retirement earlier this year. She was a longtime member of the American Speech and Hearing Association. An active member of St. Stephen's Episcopal Church in Longmont, she served in various ministries, including membership on the Vestry. She also did charity work with cleft palate clinics in Peru and the Philippines. Mary especially enjoyed international travel, regular trips to her condo in Winter Park, hiking, dinner group and her monthly book club. She was a devoted and loving wife and wonderful mother to her children. Mary was a very kind, caring and compassionate person who had a deep love for her family and was grateful to be able to witness her daughter Lizzy's recent wedding. She cherished all of those she knew, especially Jo Hewett, Ann Jennings, Pam Lind, Nancy Tway and Linda Rollert, and many other friends and relatives. Mary was preceded in death by her father and brother Bob. She is survived by her husband Greg, daughter Lizzy Byrd-Cassaro (Nick) of Lakewood, son Charlie of Fort Collins, son Jon Langford of Austin, Texas, her mother and sister Cheryl Ross of Kingfisher, Oklahoma, brother Don (Thelma) of Grove, Oklahoma, and brother Bill (Joy) of Prague, Oklahoma. She will be greatly missed by all who knew and loved her.The family will hold a private memorial service, and a public celebration of Mary's life will be held at a later date. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Autism Speaks, the International Children's Surgical Foundation, the Ovarian Cancer Research Alliance, or St. Stephen's Episcopal Church.