Mabel Yancey Brooking Birdsong was a big name for a petite lady. But "Yancey," as she was called, had a big personality and a big heart that belied her diminutive 5'2", 105-pound frame.
The matriarch of the Birdsong family whose son George is the CEO of Birdsong Peanuts, died Feb. 25 at the age of 108, leaving a legacy of family, friendship, faith, and community service.
She led a long, full and happy life, said her daughter-in-law, Sue Birdsong, George's wife.
"She was my mother-in-law for 52 years, and that's really a long time," Sue Birdsong said. "But she was welcoming from the beginning and she was the most loving and positive person I've ever known."
Yancey Birdsong was born in Cleveland, Tenn., in 1906. She studied at John Brown University and the University of Virginia and graduated with a bachelor's degree in music from the State Teachers College at Farmville (now Longwood University) in 1928. She then moved to Suffolk to be the music director for Suffolk Public Schools, where she worked until the early '30s.
"I think it's very telling about how adventurous she was," said the Rev. Woodie Rea, director of spiritual life at Lake Prince Woods, where Birdsong lived most recently. "It was very bold of her, as a single woman, to move to a new city to work in the 1920s."
Soon after arriving in Suffolk, she met William M. Birdsong, who was the city attorney, and they married in 1932. She stopped working, but she became very involved in her church, Main Street United Methodist, and in community service.
Among her activities, she was the founding president of the Louise Obici Memorial Hospital Auxiliary and a member of the Suffolk School Board. During her life, she also was a member of the Nansemond River Garden Club, Suffolk Literary Club, Suffolk Book Club, Suffolk Historical Society, Suffolk Art League, the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America in the Commonwealth of Virginia, The Cabell Foundation, and several bridge clubs.
"She loved to play bridge, and even after her eyesight deteriorated two years ago, her friends at Lake Prince Woods would go get her every Saturday morning and include her in a game," Sue Birdsong said. "She would hold a hand of cards and another lady would tell her what to play."
It was a testament to the esteem others had for the centenarian, whom her daughter-in-law Sue described as a "ball of fire."
"I mean that in a nice way," Sue Birdsong said. "She always wanted to help and encourage others."
George Birdsong said his mother was a fair-handed disciplinarian with him and his two brothers, William Jr. (deceased) and Cabell.
"She set the rules and fortunately we didn't have many problems with them," he said. "She was a very caring mom. We appreciate it more now than we ever did."
In addition to her children, Yancey Birdsong deeply loved and got along with her eight grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren, who all called her "Grandmother Birdsong."
Last Christmas, she asked Sue Birdsong to buy 22 cards so she could sign them and send a separate card to each of her grandkids. "When George asked her if she remembered how to spell 'grandmother,' she just turned and looked at him and said, 'Of course I do!' " Sue said.
By all accounts, Yancey Birdsong was a doer and not one to sit still.
"She was a quick mover," George Birdsong said. "She even said she slept fast. She'd tell people, 'If you don't have much time to sleep, you have to sleep fast and just get it over with.' "
When people would ask her the secret to her longevity, she'd tell them she stayed "too busy to die."
Debbie Williams, volunteer coordinator at Sentara Obici Hospital, said Yancey Birdsong is legendary there. The Auxiliary's scrapbooks are filled with pictures of her working on the hospital's behalf.
Birdsong also volunteered in the Outpatient Surgical Department for many years at the old hospital, Williams said. There, she helped register surgical patients, and would keep their families informed about their status during surgery.
"She was a big presence at Obici," Williams said. "She was just a really nice person."
It was hard to rattle her, said Rev. Rea.
"She once told me about getting stuck in a clubhouse in the middle of the Nansemond River - it was on stilts - during the 1933 hurricane," he said. "She was pregnant with her first child and had to climb up on top of the cabinets in the clubhouse because water was coming in. Looking back, she said she wasn't really scared, that it was kind of exciting."
Yancey Birdsong's favorite saying was "The measure of a life is not its duration, but its donation." She seems to have achieved both.
"I don't think she had any regrets about her life," George Birdsong said. "We'll certainly miss her, but after 108 years, you can't have any complaints."
Lia Russell, 222-5562, lia.russell@pilotonline.com