Memorial service planned for Tempe man, another death confirmed

By ARTHUR H. ROTSTEIN
Associated Press Writer

TUCSON, Ariz. – A Tempe family scheduled an Oct. 4 memorial service for an Arizonan reported dead in the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center.

And an Arizona father confirmed the death of his 27-year-old son, Fred Cox Jr., a former metro Phoenix resident and investment banker with Sandler O'Neal.

"He didn't make it," Fred Cox Sr. said Wednesday.

No death certificate has been issued for Gary Bird, 51, and no body has been recovered. But his wife, Donna, decided to hold the service at St. Timothy's Catholic Church in Mesa in the belief "that it will be an appropriate time to bring some closure," said Debbie Keller, a friend who has been serving as a family spokeswoman.

Bird had been scheduled to be meeting on the 99th floor of one of the towers with officials of Marsh USA Insurance Co., which he had joined as a senior vice president, said Keller. He had been laid off by copper giant Phelps Dodge Corp. in May.

"He was just an awesome guy," Keller, who lives next door to the Birds, said Wednesday. "A true American hero to me, that's Gary Bird.

"Everybody deserved to have a neighbor like Gary. He was that guy who was always there – a good, conscientious neighbor, a hands-on dad, extremely involved with the community."

Leonard Copple, vice mayor of Tempe and a family friend, said Mrs. Bird's decision signals that she has accepted her husband's death.

Mrs. Bird declined to be interviewed.

Copple, who said he had been Gary Bird's friend for about 25 years, described him as gracious and fun.

"He was always kindhearted and had a smile on his face," Copple said. "Nothing perturbed him."

Copple said Bird had served on the Tempe Industrial Development Authority's board and the city's planning and zoning commission.

"He really will be sorely missed by hundreds of people in Tempe," Copple said. "The highest compliment I can pay him is he's the kind of person you like to have in your community because he makes it a better place."

Bird also wrote a book in 1986 to teach corporations how to handle crises in the workplace, Keller said.

Bird was born in Camp Verde and was graduated from Kingman High School and the University of Arizona.

He had two children, Amanda, 15, and Andrew, 13.

AP-WS-09-26-01 2254EDT