Rev. William Bird, pastor and former Cape school board member, dies

editor's note: The original headline for this story stated William Bird was the first to serve on Cape Girardeau's School Board. That headline was incorrect. Bird was the first to be elected, but not the first to serve. The first person to serve on the school board was a man named Johnny James. He was appointed to the post in 1989 and had begun a campaign for election, but he moved away from the area due to work considerations. Bird was elected in 1996.

The Rev. William Bird, known as a community leader and beloved pastor, died Sunday.

In addition to his decades of pastoral work at Greater Dimension Ministries, Bird was the first black person to be elected to the Cape Girardeau School Board.

Having experienced firsthand the effects of segregation as a child in Gideon, Missouri, he strove the rest of his life to improve the lives of his neighbors and congregation.

He said he was driven not by bitterness, but by optimism.

“You can refuse to lower yourself because of another person’s prejudice,” Bird told the Southeast Missourian in 1994 shortly before his successful campaign for school board in 1996.

His lifelong contributions to the public sphere were acknowledged widely, and fellow community leader Debra Mitchell-Braxton said his commitment to his church and his community were unmatched.

“Bishop Bird was an outstanding member of the community, and he will be sorely missed,” Mitchell-Braxton said. “He was a very dynamic speaker.”

She presented him with the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Service Award several years ago because of his civic involvement.

“He represented the upholding of peace and love and equality of all Americans,” Mitchell-Braxton said.

Bird served as a pastor for various churches for more than three decades in Cape Girardeau and Jackson.

Bird also earned several postsecondary degrees, including a master’s degree in Christian counseling and a doctorate of theological studies.

Martha Jean Wilson, one of Bird’s congregants, said Bird was a caring person and model pastor.

“He was a good man. I knew all about him,” Wilson said. “I was his musician and choir director.”

Bird built a nationwide reputation as a man of God through his work in the Kingdom of God Apostolic Ministries and served for a time as president of the board of directors at the Gibson Recovery Center, which provides substance-abuse counseling.

Bird prided himself with his church’s willingness and ability to reach out to people of all ages, including separate services for children and vacation Bible school.

“We still teach the word of God but on a level that better suits them,” he said in 1999. “Our numbers just keep growing.”

He is survived by his wife, Rose Mary Bird, and their five children.

As of Monday afternoon, funeral arrangements had not been made public.

tgraef@semissourian.com

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