Bessie Heard, 101; Wildlife Sanctuary Donor

Bessie Heard, 101, who endowed her hometown of McKinney, Tex., with a wildlife sanctuary and natural science museum. More than 40,000 visitors come each year to the Heard Natural Science Museum and Wildlife Sanctuary, which she started in 1964. It includes more than five miles of nature trails. The nonprofit museum and sanctuary continue to be funded by the Bessie Heard Foundation, membership dues, tuition fees, gift shop sales and contributions. Miss Heard was born May 26, 1886, the eldest of five daughters. Her father, John Spencer Heard, spent four years in the Confederate Army and then opened a general store with his brother in McKinney, north of Dallas, where his oldest daughter lived her entire life. In McKinney on Tuesday.