A life, recovered / 1930–2005
Jimmie Doyle Birdwell
The mayor who worked to settle the argument
01
A life of work and service
Born in Hillsboro in 1930, Jimmie Doyle Birdwell graduated from Ferris High School and attended Jacksonville Baptist College and Texas A&M University. His working life crossed freight, postal service and ministry. He worked for Sadisco, Red Ball Motor Freight and the United States Postal Service, and served as an ordained minister and former pastor of First Baptist Church in DeSoto.
02
Nearly twenty years as mayor
Birdwell’s public life became closely identified with Ferris, where he served as mayor for almost twenty years. The Texas Senate’s memorial remembered a patient problem-solver who helped settle disputes. His civic work also reached youth sports through leadership in the Ferris Little League Association and the Ferris Yellowjacket Booster Club.
03
A place in the state record
Birdwell died on April 12, 2005. On May 11 the Texas Senate adopted Resolution 848 by a rising vote, honoring his life. For the family who knew him as Uncle Jim, the resolution preserves a public account of the work and temperament behind the familiar name.
Sources: Senate Resolution 848, 79th Legislature — Enrolled · The published family record
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Behind this biography
Sources & further reading
These sources support the biography and its continuing research.
- Senate Resolution 848, 79th Legislature — Enrolled ↗
Texas Senate memorial resolution, adopted May 11, 2005.
- The published family record ↗
Family relationships and previously published research supplied by Clayton Hollingsworth; separate from the public institutions’ records.
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