Sewickley Herald

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The Sewickley Valley's Home News Weekly
Vol. 40.   No. 27.
SEWICKLEY, PA., THURSDAY, JUNE 24, 1943
Price Five Cents
BAYARD H. CHRISTY
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The Sewiekley community suffered
the loss of one of its most useful, most
generally admired and highly respected
citizens, in the death of Bayard Henderson Christy, which occurred at his
, Frederick Avenue residence last Sunday
anoTiiiing, Juno 20, 1043. Apparently in
his usual good health at breakfast that
morning, a sudden seizure brought almost instant death while he was preparing to attend cJhurch. A very beauti*
fill service was held Tuesday afternoon
in that church, the Presbyterian Church
of Sewickley, led by its minister, the
Reverend Lockhart Amerman. Interment followed, in the Sewickley
Cemetery. Tho pallbearers woro John
B. Somple, John M. Tate, Jr., Watson
B, Adair, William D. George, Ralph W.
Harbison, George C. Hutchinson, Frank
A. Hegner and. Daniel E. Nevin,
A member of one of the older Sowickley families whose memory and
influence still lives in all that is best
in the character of this community, Mr.
Christy was born hero on April 2.1, .1872,
son of George H. and Sarah Marshall
Christy. Ho graduated from Williams
College, in Massachusetts, in 189-1, and
from Harvard Law School throe years
later, Admitted to the bar in. .1807, he
otttored practice with his father and
his  elder -brother,   tlie  lata  Marshall
Christy, the Pittsburgh law firm of
Christy and Christy, which specialized
in the field of patent law. This practice has continued until the present
time, now as head of the firm of Christy, Parmeleo and Strickland. He won
high standing in his profession, and
served as president of the Pittsburgh
Patent Bar Association. He was a member of the Cosmos Club of Washington,
D. C, tho Harvard Club of New York,
and of Delta Kappa Epyiloh fraternity.
A thorough scholar, a deep-student of
history, of literature and the fine arts,
ns well as of tho trends of history in
the making, he was a member of tho
Foreign Policy Association, and former
chairman of its Pittsburgh chapter;
ho wag president of the Sewickley
Public Library Board, and had served
three terms, IS years, on tho Scwickley
School Board, twelve of these as its
president, giving its affairs unstinted
timo and attention. And he was for
years leader and guide of the Query
Club, local organization devoted to tho
study of history. Ho served as a member of the Sowickley Cemetery board,
also an important public servico.
Mr. Christy's best-loved study and
avocation was that of the beauty of
the natural world, and especially of
birds and bird-life,   lit this field, his
scientific attainments won national
recognition; ho was accorded the high
honor of membership in the American
Ornithological Union, had contributed
papers for its annual meetings, and had
assisted or collaborated in the authorship of important books ou avifauna,
and his reports of observations were
accepted with high respect. Ho had
traveled far, afoot and otherwise, in
search of sight or song of some rare,
species-, and knew the birds of this part
of West?rn Pennsylvania, o!f tho Pymatuning area, or of the Huron Mountain
Club preservo in Michigan, as do few
other observers. Ha was president of
the Audubon Society of Sowi'ckley Valley, to whose members he gave a bird-
talk on the lawn of his homo last Friday evening, as reported in another part
of this paper. Ho edited that society's
semiannual publication, 'The Cardinal,'
whoso scientific value has gained it
entry to libraries in many distant parts
of the world,
An earnest and consistent follower
of the Christian way of life, ho had
been a member of the Sowickloy Pros*
bytorian Church since 1880; became a
trustee in 1003, and was ordained to its
oldership in 1011; has boon always a
leader iu its spiritual life and in its
work,  was teacher of its Bible-study
class for .some years, and was custodian
of the church's' historic treasures and
relics; he was prime mover in its centennial celebration a few years ago. He
was a trustee of the Sewickley Y.M.C.A,
for soma years its president; and during the first World War, ho went to
Russia under Y.M.C.A. auspices, and
there, with one or two others, was in
. charge of organizing relief for the
starving population of a wide area, In
the years that followed, he- studied
constructive national policies, and in
1032 became first chairman of tho Scwickley Committee on Education in the
Ways of Peace, as the best approach in
seeking a solution to that vital world
problem, Since the outbreak of present
European hostilities, he has given sympathetic interest and support to tho
work of the American Friends (Quaker)
Service Committee in bringing some
measure of relief to war*prisouers and
to suffering peoples of outraged countries; such a cause- had his understanding help in full measure. Generous to
many a civic, or philanthropic cause, he
■was ever ready to extend a helping
hand where need camo to his knowledge.
Mr. Christy is survived by his two
sisters, the Misses Ethel and Abby
Christy, who shared the Frederick Avenue home, and by four nieces,
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