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Friends Not Forgetting Indiana's First COVID-19 Victim

By Bob Zaltsberg

Posted March 12, 2021

Tony Sizemore and Roberta "Birdie" Shelton sit together at a table.

Tony Sizemore and Roberta "Birdie" Shelton sit together at a table. (Courtesy photo)

When Roberta Shelton got sick last March, Tony Sizemore had not been paying much attention to the news of the novel coronavirus, now known widely as COVID-19. He just knew his partner of six years felt horrible when she woke him at 5 o’clock the morning of March 7 and said he needed to take her to the emergency room.

“When she got sick, I figured she would go and get some antibiotics for a couple of days, get some fluids, come home and be back to business as usual,” he said.

But antibiotics administered at Community East Hospital in Indianapolis did not help. Shelton tested positive for COVID-19 and got sicker and sicker. She was soon put on a ventilator and Sizemore never talked to her again. She died March 16, becoming Indiana’s first reported death from the virus.

“It just happened so fast. I took her to the hospital, and she’s gone in a week,” Sizemore said last spring.

Roberta Shelton was 69 and her friends all knew her as Birdie. She was known for her kind heart that led her to organize and conduct fund-raising efforts for people in need.

READ MORE: 'A Pretty Incredible Woman': The First Hoosier To Die Of Coronavirus, Remembered

She had no specific cause. She just had a passion for helping people, said her friend Penney Bray.

Bray said Birdie would see a story in the newspaper or on television about someone who needed a hand, and she was there for them. If she heard about a friend – or a friend of a friend – who needed help, she was there for them, too.  Bray said she was “a legend in my eyes,” and not just in the southeast-side Indianapolis neighborhood where she and Sizemore lived but throughout Indianapolis.  

Bray found purpose in that work, too, and along with a friend has started a nonprofit, One Love Charity, Inc. She said Birdie inspired her and she wants to keep her friend’s spirit alive.

Bray and friends have planned a memorial service for Birdie Shelton on March 21. She says it will be like those Birdie planned, a jam session at Books & Brews South Indy off Shelby Street with lots of music and memories of their friend. It is scheduled to run from noon to 5 p.m.

“She was just a blessing to me,” Bray said. “She has not been forgotten.”

For the latest news and resources about COVID-19, bookmark our Coronavirus In Indiana page here.

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