Submitted by
Karen Stewart

Birdie Mae Taylor

TONKAWA — Birdie Mae Taylor, longtime resident of Tonkawa, died Sunday May 6, 2007, in Ponca City Medical Center. She was 82.

A graveside service will be held at 10 a.m. Wednesday, May 9, in Tonkawa IOOF Cemetery with the Rev. Richard Thomasson, minister of First Baptist Church of Tonkawa, officiating. Visitation is Tuesday evening at Anderson Funeral Home.

Birdie Taylor was born Nov. 17, 1924, in Webb City, the daughter of Fred Parks and Jewell Atlee Fitch Moler. She grew up in Three Sands and graduated from Tonkawa High School.

Birdie married George Dewey Taylor Jr. on Aug. 3, 1941, and they lived in Wichita, Kan., then back to Three Sands, where they operated Taylor Grocery. In 1952, they moved to Tonkawa to open the Taylor Maytag store. Birdie began working for Williams Tool of Tonkawa in 1958 which later became Smith Tool of Ponca City. She retired from Smith Tool in 1989 after 31 years of service.

Birdie was a member of the National Genealogical Society and actively pursued genealogy, including numerous research trips to Salt Lake City and Washington, D.C., libraries. Her other hobbies included traveling throughout the United States and abroad and she was an avid reader. She was an active member of the Daughters of the American Revolution and the Beta Sigma Phi sorority. She enjoyed volunteering at the Tonkawa Historical Society Museum.

Birdie is survived by a daughter, Georgia Ann Carter of Lake Quivira, Kan.; a son, Fred Taylor and wife Marilyn of Arkansas City, Kan.; a sister, Lillian Holinsworth; five grandchildren; and eight great-grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her husband, George D. Taylor Jr., and her parents.

Memorial contributions may be made in her name to the Tonkawa Public Library, 216 North 7th, Tonkawa, Okla. 74653.