Lyla Karen Wolfmeyer Bird

Lyla Karen Wolfmeyer Bird, 82, died peacefully at home on July 20, 2022. She has been laid to rest near her parents and extended family at LaBelle Cemetery in LaBelle, Missouri. 

Born in LaGrange, Missouri, to Herbert and Hazel Wolfmeyer, Karen grew up in Keokuk, Iowa.  She received a biology degree from Northeast Missouri State Teachers College and then received her medical degree from Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine in Kirksville, Missouri.  While completing her family medicine training at the South Bend (Indiana) Osteopathic Hospital, she met and married Roger Bird.

Continuing to practice as Dr. Karen Wolfmeyer, she opened a private practice in the Twin Branch area of Osceola, Indiana, where she practiced until 1991. At that time, Karen and Roger moved to Missouri, where she continued to practice medicine until her retirement. After enjoying several years of retirement on the Lake of the Ozarks, the couple returned to Michiana to be closer to their family. Roger Bird died in 2016 and Karen began to split her time between Michiana and Mesa, Arizona.

Karen is survived by her sister Diane (Lynn) Pascoe of Alexandria, Virginia, and Karen's children, Matthew (Jennifer) Bird of Naperville, Illinois, and Kirsten (Jason) Marker of South Bend. She leaves behind three granddaughters, two nieces, three great-nieces, and one great-nephew. Roger’s family from an earlier marriage also mourns her loss, along with extended family members, patients, and friends from Michiana, Iowa, Missouri, and Arizona.

Karen will be remembered for her compassionate care of the patients who entrusted their health to her. She delivered hundreds of babies, made house calls, attended patients in the hospital and nursing home, and provided sports medicine care for Penn High School student athletes. Karen was a Master Gardener and enjoyed a wide variety of hobbies, including fishing, genealogy, making and collecting jewelry, and watching football. She enjoyed driving and owning small, fast cars…until she married a man who couldn’t fit into one! 

A former high school drum major, Karen was always game for a band concert – especially if a Sousa march or big band era song was expected. Karen’s love of traveling started with a semester of college in Madrid, Spain, and even into her 80s she enjoyed trips all around the U.S. with her children. Her last overseas adventure was a trip with her sister to visit their family’s native homeland of Germanna, Germany.

A memorial will be held from 11am to 1pm on Saturday, August 27, at St. Mark Missionary Church, located at 55240 Bittersweet Road, Mishawaka, IN 46545. This will be an informal time for family and friends to visit, reminisce, and enjoy light refreshments. Memorial gifts may be made to The Center for Hospice Care (https://foundationforhospice.org/donate/).

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