Rev. Taylor Bird

The Rev. Taylor Osborne Bird, 83, of Staunton and formerly of Highland County, died April 30, 1996, at his home.

Mr. Bird was born March 24, 1913, in Horse Shoe, N.C. and was a son of Thomas Whitter and Annie Mae Osborne Bird Sr.

He was a member of the Presbyterian Church. He graduated from the University of North Carolina and Union Theological Seminary. He was ordained in 1941 at Beulah Presbyterian Church in Highland County, where he had his first pastorate. He served as pastor in Virginia, West Virginia, Tennessee and North Carolina.

Survivors include his wife, virginia L. Bird; four daughters, Anna Bird and Mary Smith, bot of Staunon, Sarah Parker, Morgantown, N.C.; four sons, James Bird, Chattanooga, Tenn., David Bird, Sulphur Springs, Tenn., Paul Bied, Tellico Plains, Tenn., and John Bied, Galveston, Ind.; two sisters, Corrie Louise Bird, Akron, Ohio, and Mary Lee Hathaway, McLean; 17 grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren.

The Rev. Norman Brower will conduct a memorial service at 7:45 p.m. today at Obaugh Funeral Home in McDowell. The body will be taken to the Jackson Funeral Home in Hendersonville, N.C. for a service and burial 2 p.m. Saturday at Mills River Presbyterian Church in Horse Shoe. The Rev. John Neville will conduct the service and bnurial will be in Mills River Cemetery.

The family will receive friends, 7-9 p.m. today at the funeral home in McDowell.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Staunton-Augusta Rescue, Staunton, Va. 24401 or Covenant Community Church, Staunton, Va. 24401.