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Lillian Nell Bowers
Lillian Nell Bowers
October 21, 1915 - July 28, 1997
Lillian N. Birdwell - 1915-1997
Mrs. Lillian Neil Birdweil, 8l, of Hollow Rock, died Monday, July 28, at Baptist Memorial Hospital of heart disease. Funeral services were conducted Wednesday, July 30, at 1 p.m. at 1pm. Pleasant Hill Baptist Church. The Rev. J.D. Featherston officiating. Interment followed in the New Prospect Cemetery near Hollow Rock.
Mrs. Birdwell, a homemaker and former employee of the U.S. Dcpartment of Agriculture, was born October 21, 1915 in Buena Vista. A valedictorian of Central High School in Hollow Rock, she also attended Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri and (George Peabody Teachers College in Nashville. She graduated from Andrew Jackson University in Nashville in 1938. She held various positions in the Management Division of the Rural Electrification Administration during World War II. As a management analyst with the REA, Mrs. Birdwell played an important role in the early electrification of the Tennessee Valley, and was presented with Distinguished Service Awards by the Secretary of Agriculture Charles Brannon and Vice President Alben Barkiey before leaving government service in 1951 to be a full-time homemaker.
Mrs. Birdwell also worked as an accountant and bookkeeper during her retirement and operated her own tax preparation business until her death.
She survived by her husband, Zeno Birdwell, of Hollow Rock; one daughter, Nancy Lena Birdwell of Memphis; one son, Dan Birdwell ol Signal Mountain; and two sisters, Clara Lee Notes of Bruceton and Mable Reed of Martin. Bruceton Funeral Home was in charge of arrangements, (901)586-2512.