David R. Birdsell

Obituary of David R. Birdsell September 10, 2015 David R. Birdsell Sr., 60, of Palermo, passed away Thursday. Born in Fulton, he was a life resident of the Palermo area. Dave was employed at General Electric in Syracuse as an Electrical Engineer for many years. He had previously been employed at Nestle Company and Coastal Cogeneration, both in Fulton. He was a member of the Gamma Theta Gamma fraternity at Alfred State University and had previously served as the secretary for the fraternity Board of Directors and as the Palermo Town Justice. Dave enjoyed tinkering with electronics and his John Deere tractor and also golfing and long walks in the woods, where he would find fossils and various artifacts. He was predeceased by his father, Reuben Birdsell who died in 2004; his maternal grandparents, Nellie and Rance Raymond and by an uncle, George Birdsell. He will be greatly missed by his wife of 36 years, Sandra Birdsell of Palermo; a son, David Birdsell Jr. of North Rose; two granddaughters, Sara and Mackenzie Birdsell; a grandson, Maverick Birdsell; mother, Marion Birdsell; two sisters, Linda (C. Hadwin) Fravor of Mexico and Brenda (John) Fietz of Liverpool; a brother, Dennis (Marsha) Birdsell of Volney and several nieces and nephews. A funeral service will be 10 a.m. Wednesday, September 16 at Foster Funeral Home, 910 Fay Street, Fulton. Calling hours are 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday, September 15 at the funeral home. Burial will be at Mt. Pleasant Cemetery. Contributions may be made to the Epilepsy Foundation of Rochester, Epilepsy-Pralid, Inc., 2 Townline Circle, Rochester, NY 14623 or the American Cancer Society, 6725 Lyons Street, East Syracuse, NY 13057.