Aug. 3, 1994 – Sept. 27, 2019

NATCHEZ — Memorial services for Tyra Makel Birdie, 25, of Natchez, who died Friday, Sept. 27, 2019, in Winona, will be 11 a.m. Saturday at Melrose Avenue Church of Christ, 126 Melrose Ave., in Natchez, with the Rev. Michael Hoggatt Sr. officiating.   
Burial will follow at Sunset View Memorial Park Cemetery under the direction of Robert D. Mackel and Sons Funeral Home.
Tyra was loved by so many people. She was a caring, considerate, kind-hearted person who would do whatever she could for anybody. Tyra was a 2012 graduate of Natchez High School and a graduate of Tougaloo College, where she received her bachelor of science degree in sociology. She was employed by Xerox Corporation in Madison and Rankin County Correctional Facility.
Tyra was preceded in death by one daughter, Serenity Miracle Renee Birdie; maternal great-grandparents, Anthony and Bertha Birdie; one great-aunt, Viola Birdie O’Neal; one uncle, Courtney Albert; paternal grandfather, Vernon Lewis; great-grandfather, Elbert Fort; and one uncle, Jararta Lewis.
Tyra leaves to cherish her beautiful memories a loving mother, Renza Renee Birdie; her father, Tyrus Fort and wife, Leesa; a loving and caring brother, Rickey Cardell McGruder Jr. of Natchez and Joseph of Hermitage, Tennessee; a caring stepmother from her childhood, Bridiget Fleming; two stepsisters, Bridney and Bridneice Fleming, all of Memphis, Tennessee; maternal grandmother, Bettye Birdie; grandfather, Josh Whitley and wife, Betty; paternal grandmother, Beverly Fort Lewis, all of Natchez; seven aunts, Cynthia Bland, Karen Whitley, Shawanda Robinson, Shemeka Fort, Karen Fort and Candace Lewis, all of Natchez, and Nena Pernell of Terry; six great-aunts, Velma Harris and Audrey Williams of South Bend, Indiana, Wanda McGowan and husband, Calvin, of Memphis, Brenda Jordan and husband, Lonnie, of Dallas, Harriet Whittley and Clorain McCellis of Natchez; five uncles, Anthony Birdie and wife, Katia, of South Bend, Indiana, Terrance Birdie and Antonio Lewis of Natchez, Terrance Albert and James Whitley and wife, Veronica, of Tupelo; one great-uncle, Alex Speak; one niece, Bridnia Fleming; four nephews, Braylen, Braxton, Bryson and Brayshon Fleming, all of Memphis; two very special friends, Candace Bernard and Bria Nichole Johnson; a special cousin, Terrica Parker; and a number of other cousins and friends.