BIRDWELL, GENENE BATEMAN (1929 ~ 2013). The following is an obituary for Genene Birdwell, spouse of John Birdwell, former chairman of the Texas Tech University Board of Regents. The obituary was published in The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal on February 19th, 2013.
Genene Lee Bateman Birdwell was born in Hastings, Nebraska on July 6, 1929. She died at her home in Austin, Texas, on February 17, 2013. Mrs. Birdwell was the eldest daughter of Maxie Murray Bateman and Tolbert Raymond Bateman. She was preceded in death by her rancher husband of forty-two years, John E. Birdwell.
Mr. and Mrs. Birdwell were active participants in the rich and storied history of the Texas livestock industry. To the end of her days, Mrs. Birdwell had unforgettable memories of rearing her eldest children in the midst of the 1950's drought, keeping house and maintaining a home under what were often harsh conditions, enduring blazing summers and driving sandstorms while feeding and caring for dozens of cowhands. She received her early education in public schools in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, Maryville, Missouri, and Clovis, New Mexico.
Upon graduating high school, she attended Gulf Park College for Girls in Gulfport, Mississippi, and then transferred to the University of New Mexico, where she majored in journalism. While a student at the University of New Mexico, she was a member of the Kappa Alpha Theta sorority. On June 5, 1949, she married John E. Birdwell, a West Texas rancher. They had five children.
While raising a family, she was active in the PTA and other groups benefiting her children. During her life, she was associated with numerous civic, welfare, cultural, social, and educational organizations. She and her husband lived for many years in Lubbock. During that time, Mr. Birdwell was the president of the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association. In 1989, Governor Bill Clements appointed Mr. Birdwell to the Texas Water Commission, and the couple moved to Austin, where Mrs. Birdwell spent the final 24 years of her life. In her later years, she had a special fondness for her needlepoint group.
Mrs. Birdwell was a lifelong member of the Presbyterian Church. She always loved her church and her God. Mrs. Birdwell is survived by her children and their spouses, John E. Birdwell, Richard Clay and Martha Birdwell, William Britt and Lisa Birdwell, Robert Scott and Michele Birdwell and Genene Lee Birdwell Black; her grandchildren, Lucy and Fowler Carter, Megaen Birdwell, Grant and Carlye Birdwell, Marcus Birdwell, Amanda and Brooks Hodges, Blake and Elaine Birdwell, Alex Birdwell, Sadie Lee Birdwell, Robert Scott Birdwell, Carter Ann Birdwell, Ben Birdwell, Abe Birdwell, Sam Birdwell, John Henry Birdwell, Adelaide Birdwell, Will Black, John Black, and Sara and Matt Ridlinger. She is also survived by her great grandchildren: Madelyn Ridlinger, John Douglas Birdwell, Henry Birdwell, Clay Hodges and Beau Birdwell; her sisters, Sally Marks and Dian Sherrod; and her brother-in-law, John H. Marks.
A private family memorial will be held in honor of Mrs. Birdwell. Mrs. Birdwell's ashes will be laid to rest at her husband's grave at the Texas State Cemetery in Austin.
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