Dean Arthur Bird

Dean Arthur Bird, 101, of Springville, passed away on September 20, 2023.  He was born July 19, 1922, at his home in Springville, Utah, only 175 feet away from where he died, also at home.  He is the son of William Arthur “Art” Bird and Mary “May” Amelia Bryan Bird.  Dean was the 10th of 11 children; all of his siblings preceded him in death.  He married his high school sweetheart, Ina Sanford on November 18, 1942 in the Salt Lake Temple.  Ina preceded him in death on January 13, 2017.

Dean graduated from Springville High School and attended BYU on scholarship.  His college studies were interrupted by World War II.  Dean served from 1945 to 1946 in the Marine Corps.  Hobbies included gardening, tropical fish, knitting, jigsaw puzzles, and game night. He was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, where he served as the Bishop of the Springville 14th Ward, Kolob Stake Clerk for 17 years and a temple worker for 14 years.  Dean and Ina served a mission to the Denmark Copenhagen Mission, serving in Iceland.  He was a counselor in the mission presidency, supervising the missionaries in Iceland. His early years were spent raising turkeys.  He was a career printer working at Art City Publishing Company, where he operated a Linotype and was a compositor, and at BYU Press, where he was in customer relations.  A scholarship was established in his name at BYU.

Dean enjoyed retirement where he proudly presided over a family of 253 descendants.  He notes only his wife preceded him in death.  Dean is survived by his seven children: Janet (Mark) Clarke of Orem; Jack (Lynn) Bird of Springville; Garth (Bonnie) Bird of Spanish Fork; Vonda (Bruce) Louthan of Moab, serving a mission in Susquehanna, PA; Benson (Denise) Bird of Spanish Fork; Gena Bird of Springville; and Marlon (Denise) Bird of Pleasant Grove.

Funeral services will be held on Tuesday, September 26, 2023, at 11:00 a.m., at the Kolob 8th Ward chapel located at 840 South 400 East, Springville, Utah.  A viewing for friends and family will be held Monday evening, September 25, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Wheeler Mortuary located at 211 East 200 South in Springville, and on Tuesday just prior to services from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. at the church.  Burial will be in the Springville Evergreen Cemetery.

Condolences for the family may be expressed on this page.