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BIRD -- Stella Jean Bird was born in Wybark, Oklahoma on June 27, 1925. Her early years were spent in the Oklahoma Panhandle, graduating from Reydon High School in 1943. Stella Jean was the older of two girls, one younger, and two older brothers. As a middle child, born to parents Flora Weiland and Jesse Lee Vinson, she remained with the family and met a school mate, Daniel William Bird - who was destined to be her life partner. Only World War II separated them, but they were married on November 18, 1945 in Dumas, Texas. They have been soul-mates and life partners for 63 years of marriage and loving parents for 62. Stella Jean and her husband moved to California, then back to the Texas and Oklahoma Panhandles, residing in several towns and cities with plans to settle-down in Dumas, TX. While in Dumas, she became a working mother, providing for her family while her husband attended educational classes. In 1958, Stella Jean, with her family, left Texas for what turned out to be her home, New Mexico. She and her husband are long time New Mexico residents, having initially located in Grants, NM., where she was saved and baptized at the First Baptist Church. In 1963, she and her family settled in Albuquerque's South Valley. As a working mother for the second time, she spent many years making a successful career with the Central Ave. K-Mart, where her association with fellow employees and customers earned her the friendship and respect of all who came to know her. In between her family and her career, cooking and sewing were her passions, making many of the clothes her children wore to elementary school. Choosing to retire in 1988, she elected instead to devote herself to her home and her family. Her working career was soon replaced with family and Church activities and sharing her time teaching Sunday School at Bethel Baptist Church in the South Valley. It was once said, "If you have to tell others you are a lady, you aren't". Stella Jean never had to tell anyone, but all who knew her, knew her as a lady, devoted wife, and mother. Stella Jean is survived by her husband, Daniel William; her daughter, Carol Lynn and her husband, Robert, her son, Danny and his wife, Bonnie, and her son, Reginald Eugene. She has five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. Viewing is scheduled for Sunday, December 28, 2008, 2:00 to 4:00 p.m., French Mortuary, 10500 Lomas Blvd. NE, Albuquerque. Services will be held on Monday, December 29, 2008, 10:00 a.m., at Manzano Baptist Church, 12411 Linn Ave. NE, Albuquerque, with Internment to be at Sunset Memorial Park Cemetery, 924 Menaul Blvd. NE. Please visit our online guestbook for Stella at RememberTheirStory.com French 10500 Lomas Blvd. NE (505) 275-3500
        Published on: Sun December 28, 2008