Don Allan Bird, 91, passed away on January 9, 2022.  Don was born June 27, 1930, near Oroville, WA.  He believed Jesus Christ directly influenced his life from the very beginning.  First, by directing his unmarried birth mother to visit the same doctor as his future adoptive parents who drove across the State of Washington to get him when he was 3 days old.  At age 6 his eyesight was saved when he was injured in a head-on car accident.  At 9 years old he was hospitalized with a temperature of 104 degrees in a coma, but suddenly recovered and went home.  At 10 years of age, he was saved from drowning in a river when he suddenly surfaced and grabbed hold of a boat passing by.  At age 13, he and a cousin were run over by a car while bicycling on a Yakima Street but were miraculously not injured.  At age 16 while fishing for salmon with his father and grandfather, they survived a storm with 8-foot waves in a 22-foot boat.

He spent his summers with his cousins on their aunt's ranch riding horses, herding cattle to and from the mountains, and helping with haying.  During this time his parents operated a couple of grocery stores, owned a fruit ranch, and when Don was in high school they moved to Anacortes where his father worked for the IRS and owned a stationary store.

At age 18 after graduating high school, he enlisted in the US Army Band at Fort Lawton. When he was sent to Korea during the war, he convinced an officer that he could play a French horn and was assigned to the 8 ^th Army band in Seoul, South Korea.  After the war he attended Skagit Valley College and the University of Washington where he received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Psychology and Master's Degree in Social Work.

He met and married Doris Nemitz in 1954 while both attending Skagit Valley Jr. College, and they moved to Seattle to finish his education.  They joined the Northminster Presbyterian Church where he served as a Deacon, taught bible class, sang in the church choir and men's quartet, and played in the bell choir.

He worked for several firms and also as a therapist for a private counseling agency, a volunteer for the Crisis Clinic, and a guardian ad litum for the King County Superior Court. When he worked for 22 years with the Washington State Division of Family and Children's Services supervising Children's Protective Services and Voluntary Agency Group Care, he helped develop a computer CPS and later worked as a contract specialist and financial coordinator before retiring in 1992.

Don is survived by his sons Michael (Marjory) and David (Billee); grandchildren, Michelle (Jared), Jesse (Laura), and Shannon; great grandchildren, Kristiana, Waylon and Walker, bonus grandchildren Caryn (Derek), Chelsea, Samantha, Melanie, Richard & bonus great grandchildren Chase and Ashlynn.

A Funeral Service will be held on Saturday January 29 ^th at 11:00am at Evans Funeral Chapel, with a Graveside Service at Fernhill Cemetery to follow.

To share memories and sign the online guestbook, please visit
www.evanschapel.com/obituary/don-bird