Amy Bird, 90
Amy Nelle Bird, the first woman elected to the board of trustees of Joint School District 391, died at the age of 90, Sunday, Dec. 31, 2017, at her home in Moscow. Amy and her husband, Robert “Bob” Bird, lived in Kellogg from 1952 to 1977.
Amy was born July 21, 1927, at Thorp, Wash., west of Ellensburg, to Herbert and Ileen (Hyder) Legg. She grew up on her family’s farm in Kittitas, Wash. Amy graduated from Central Washington College of Education (now Central Washington University) in 1949 with a bachelor of education degree and a history major. After graduation, she taught kindergarten in Bellevue, Yakima and Ellensburg.
In December of 1950, Amy met Bob, who had moved to Ellensburg from North Carolina. They were married Dec. 22, 1951, at Grace Episcopal Church in Ellensburg. The following year, the couple moved to Kellogg, where Bob was employed at the Bunker Hill zinc plant.
The Birds had three sons, Kenton, John and James, all born in Kellogg. Amy was a homemaker active in the Sunnyside School Parent-Teacher Association, Cub Scouts, Emmanuel Episcopal Church and P.E.O., an international women’s philanthropic organization.
She was elected to the Kellogg School Board in 1973 and re-elected in 1976. She was the first woman to serve on the board, according to the 1973 Kellogg High School yearbook. The Kellogg Elks Lodge honored her with its first “Citizen of the Year” of the award.
Bob and Amy moved in 1977 to Clarksville, Tenn., where Bob worked for Jersey Miniere Zinc Company until his retirement in 1992. The couple moved to Prescott, Ariz., where Amy remained active in church activities and P.E.O. Her hobbies included gardening, needlepoint and reading.
In 1977, Amy and Bob spent a month in England and Scotland and returned to Britain in 1980 for their son Kenton’s graduation from the University of Wales. Bob and Amy participated in Elderhostels in Charlottesville, Va., and the Hopi and Navajo reservations of Arizona. They took a cruise through the Panama Canal in 2008 and toured New Zealand in 2010.
Survivors include her husband of 66 years, Bob; two sons, Kenton, and his wife, Gerri Sayler, of Moscow; and James, and his wife, Nanette, of Firestone, Colo.; two granddaughters, Jaci Bird, her fiancée, Apollo Kinsey, and their son, Killian Bird, all of Marana, Ariz., and Julia Bird of Firestone. Amy’s second son, John, died in 1988. Other surviving family members include two brothers, App Legg, of Yuma, Ariz., and Dan Legg of Sarasota, Fla.; two sisters, Joan Klemmer of Spokane and Mary Hayes of Yakima, and numerous nieces and nephews.
A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 27, at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, 111 S. Jefferson in Moscow. The family suggests memorial contributions to the public libraries in Kellogg, Clarksville or Prescott; to P.E.O., earmarked for Cottey College, or to the University of Idaho Arboretum Associates.