Olive Bird, age 98, passed away in Memphis on May 4, 2021. She will be buried at the West Tennessee Veterans Cemetery beside her husband, the late Clifford Bird, who served in the U.S. Army during World War II.
Mrs. Bird was born in Utica, Mississippi, and attended high school and college in Jackson. She and Cliff married in 1945, and went on to have four children. She had a long career as an executive secretary, working for many years for the U.S. Government and then for a major railroad company.
In her later years, Olive remained very active, becoming a regular tennis player, including many local tournaments. She also participated in multiple sports – including shuffleboard, track competitions, and field events like long jumping and discus and javelin throwing – in the Senior Olympics (both locally and on the national level) well into her 90s.
She is survived by three children, seven grandchildren, and 17 great-grandchildren, as well as by her brother and three nephews.