Robert J. Butzen ’45

Bird was born in Milwaukee and attended Marquette High School. At Princeton he was in Cannon Club and played freshman tennis. He continued to play collegiate tennis for Cornell when his enlistment in the Navy moved him there. In the war he was an anti-aircraft control officer. After the war he returned to graduate from Princeton in chemical engineering.

He followed in his father’s footsteps selling for Mass Mutual Insurance Co. Later he started Casper Kitchens, designing residential kitchens, and after that he became an institutional broker at Smith Barney. He had a great sense of humor, was hard to beat at gin rummy, and was an avid golfer with eight holes-in-one.

Bird died June 6, 2019. His wife, Frede, predeceased him. Bird is survived by children Marty, R. Chris and his wife, Joey, Robin and her husband, Tim, Holly and her husbnd, Bill, Stephen and his wife, Jane, David and his wife, Karen, and Marynell and her husband, Dave; grandchildren Benjamin, Timothy, Margaux, Christopher, Jennifer, Brian, David, Kim, Laura, Daniel, Ashley, R.J., Holly, Abby, Sheila, Luke, and Grace; and great-grandchildren Holden, Winnie, Sullivan, Caroline, James, David, and Henry.