March 18, 2002
DOWN HOME:
Holly & Wilma loved to witness
___The best picture featured Holly pretending to talk to a statue of Col. Sanders, the Kentucky Fried Chicken magnate. A caption proclaimed, "Our dad would witness to anybody."
___The photograph joined dozens of others in a slide show chronicling the lives of Holly and Wilma Bird. Hundreds--maybe a thousand--of friends and family watched the images and the years flicker by as we waited for their funeral to begin March 13.
___For more than a decade, I've thought of Holly and Wilma as family. My brother, Martin, married their daughter, Valorie. Technically, we weren't related. But their daughter became my sister, and their grandchildren are my nieces and nephew. Besides, their love was bountiful enough to spread beyond Valorie and her brothers, David, Kenny and Alan, to embrace not-quite-related folks like all us Knoxes.
MARV KNOX
Editor
___From the start, I learned two things about the Birds: Holly always had a corny joke or two to share. And you couldn't sit down to a dinner table after Wilma; she always insisted on making sure everyone had plenty to eat. So, when we were together, I developed a pattern. First, I'd sit on the couch with Holly. No matter what was going on in the world, he'd make me laugh and thank God for friendship. Then, I'd head to the kitchen and hang out with Wilma. She'd catch me up on their latest mission trip or plans for the next mission trip, and she'd tell me how things were going at their beloved First Baptist Church in McKinney.
___That's where we gathered last week to honor and celebrate their lives and to thank God for touching us through the Birds.
___The picture of Holly with Col. Sanders reminded us of what we had known for years. Holly and Wilma really would witness to anybody. Since 1979, they participated in mission trips on six continents.
___Holly was the genial, huggable charmer. Wilma was the fervent Bible student and teacher. But they both told practically everyone they met what Jesus had done in their lives. If all the people who have become Christians because of their witness could have attended their memorial service, we would have had to meet in a huge arena, not a church.
___And if every church had five couples like Holly and Wilma, Satan would give up and go home to hell--alone. Because they loved to witness. They loved their family, and they loved their friends. And, oh, they loved their church. But they loved Jesus more, and they couldn't understand why everyone shouldn't have the opportunity to know and love him too.
___An inexplicable automobile accident took them from this Earth before we were ready to see them go. One minute, they were driving down Interstate 20; the next, they were in the presence of the Lord. I'd guess Holly has made the angels laugh, and Wilma has made sure all the saints have had enough for dinner.
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