May 15, 1936 – Jan. 14, 2014
John Gottlieb Bihr, a certified public accountant who operated a family grocery in Orchard Park for 30 years, died unexpectedly Jan. 14 in Mercy Hospital. He was 77.
Born in Buffalo, he was a 1955 graduate of West Seneca Central High School and earned a degree in accounting from the University of Buffalo in 1959. He served in the Army and the Army Reserve.
Mr. Bihr was an accountant at the Ford Stamping Plant from 1962 to 1970, when he and his brother Thomas opened a Bihr’s Food Shop on South Buffalo Street in Orchard Park.
Previously, he had worked with his father at the original Bihr’s Food Shop on Main Street in Williamsville and was co-owner and operator there with his brother from 1965 to 1975.
He became sole proprietor of the Orchard Park store after his brother died in 1996 and he operated the store until 2000, when he sold the business and retired. He continued to work in the produce department at Tops Market in Hamburg until last year.
An Orchard Park resident, he was a member of Ebenezer United Church of Christ.
His wife of 44 years, Mary S. Ray Bihr, died in 2007.
Survivors include a daughter, Gretchen Mullen; two sons, John C. and Matthew; two sisters, Winifred Answeeney and Kathryn; and seven grandchildren.
Services were Monday in F.E. Brown Sons Funeral Home, Orchard Park.
John Gottlieb Bihr, a certified public accountant who operated a family grocery in Orchard Park for 30 years, died unexpectedly Jan. 14 in Mercy Hospital. He was 77.
Born in Buffalo, he was a 1955 graduate of West Seneca Central High School and earned a degree in accounting from the University of Buffalo in 1959. He served in the Army and the Army Reserve.
Mr. Bihr was an accountant at the Ford Stamping Plant from 1962 to 1970, when he and his brother Thomas opened a Bihr’s Food Shop on South Buffalo Street in Orchard Park.
Previously, he had worked with his father at the original Bihr’s Food Shop on Main Street in Williamsville and was co-owner and operator there with his brother from 1965 to 1975.
He became sole proprietor of the Orchard Park store after his brother died in 1996 and he operated the store until 2000, when he sold the business and retired. He continued to work in the produce department at Tops Market in Hamburg until last year.
An Orchard Park resident, he was a member of Ebenezer United Church of Christ.
His wife of 44 years, Mary S. Ray Bihr, died in 2007.
Survivors include a daughter, Gretchen Mullen; two sons, John C. and Matthew; two sisters, Winifred Answeeney and Kathryn; and seven grandchildren.
Services were Monday in F.E. Brown Sons Funeral Home, Orchard Park.