Nellie Bird

Nellie Becker Bird, 98, passed away Tuesday, October 14, 2008, at McCrite Plaza.

She was born November 9 1909, on a farm near Meriden, Kansas, the twin daughter of Edward and Lottie (O'Brien) Becker. She moved to Topeka in 1918 and attended Topeka Public Schools, graduating from Topeka High School in 1928. She graduated from McClelland's Business College, worked for Capper Publications and later for the Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad as a stenographer. She learned to play golf from her brother Marshall Becker and won the Topeka Golf Club Championship title in 1932.

After retiring from Santa Fe, she became a member of the Topeka Seratoma Club and Santa-Fe Old Timers. She enjoyed making quilts, which generated many awards. One of her quilts was displayed at Bloomingdales Department Store in New York as part of the Kansas Exhibit. This quilt is now in the permanent collection of the Kansas History Museum. She was an 86 year member of Central Congregational Church.

She married Charles Denton Coffman in 1933. They divorced and in 1959 she married, Chalmers Bird, he preceded her in death. She was also preceded in death by her brothers, Lester, Leo, Lloyd, and Marshall and more recently by her twin sister, Louise Stafford of Bremerton, Washington.
She is survived by a daughter, Judy Coffman Bray and husband, Barry, of Topeka; two grandchildren, Heather Bray Nordstrom and husband, Tad, of Lafayette, Colorado; and Charles Barry Bray and wife, Catherine, of Topeka; and two great grandchildren, Jared Charles Bray and Elle Elizabeth Bray. A stepdaughter Suzanne Bird lives in Lawrence, Kansas.

Mrs. Bird will lie in state on Friday, October 17 after 4:00 p.m. at Penwell-Gabel Mid-Town Chapel. Services will be at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, October 18 at Central Congregational Church. Private internment will follow at the Meriden Cemetery.