A life, recovered / 1925–2018
Mary Ellon “Sissy” Birdwell Stroud Edwards
A big sister’s lifetime of service
Mary Ellon “Sissy” Birdwell as a child, in a restored and colorized family portrait. Color is interpretive.
01
A daughter of Oides and Emma
Mary Ellon “Sissy” Birdwell was the daughter of Oides Chaney Birdwell and Emma Myrtle Everett Birdwell. She and my grandmother, Ivana Sue Birdwell Anderson, shared their father.
Mary Ellon grew up in Hillsboro and Ferris and graduated from Ferris High School in 1943.
Sources: Clayton Hollingsworth’s family identification · Mary Ellon Stroud — obituary
Mary Ellon “Sissy” Birdwell in a restored and colorized family portrait. Colors are interpretive.
View the source record →02
Federal work and a family in Dallas
Post Office and Census Bureau work preceded her 1960 marriage to James “Jimmy” Stroud. Their sons were Doug and Paul.
At Northway Christian Church, Mary Ellon made ornaments and baked for the bazaar. She also led the PTAs at Stonewall Jackson Elementary, J. L. Long Middle School and Woodrow Wilson High School.
Sources: Mary Ellon Stroud — obituary
03
Terrell and the later years
After widowhood in 1980, Mary Ellon worked for ATF. She married Martin Edwards in 1999 and moved to Terrell, joining its church and civic life.
Jimmie Doyle Birdwell’s 2005 obituary names her as Mary (Stroud) Edwards and identifies Martin as her husband.
She died aged 92 in 2018 and was buried at Restland Memorial Park, Dallas.
Sources: Mary Ellon Stroud — obituary · Jimmie Doyle Birdwell — obituary
04
The child in the family portrait
The childhood portrait at the top of this page is from my family collection. Her bobbed hair, closed-mouth smile and the bow on her dress remain the center of the photograph. The restored color version is the one I selected for her profile.
Sources: Mary E. Birdwell — family portrait
Look a little closer
The photographs
hold more of the story.
Open any image to see the complete photograph. Captions name the people and places in each photograph.
Mary Ellon “Sissy” Birdwell seated on a sofa. Restored colors are interpretive.
View the source record →Continue through the archive
One life leads to another.
Behind this biography
Sources & further reading
These sources support the biography and its continuing research.
- Clayton Hollingsworth’s family identification
Mary’s parents are Oides Birdwell and Emma Birdwell.
- Mary Ellon Stroud — obituary ↗
Max Slayton Funerals and Cremations, June 2018.
- Jimmie Doyle Birdwell — obituary ↗
The Dallas Morning News, April 14, 2005. Names Mary (Stroud) Edwards and her husband Martin.
- Mary E. Birdwell — family portrait
Childhood photograph from Clayton Hollingsworth’s family collection; restored and colorized portrait selected for publication.