Introduction

Most sports fans know Larry Bird as the stoic sharpshooter from French Lick who became a three-time NBA champion and one of basketball’s all-time greats. Few pause to consider the people whose lives intersected with his before fame — people whose stories are instructive in their own right. Janet Condra’s life is one such story: a small-town woman who faced heartache, single parenthood, and the choice to live quietly while the world watched her former husband climb to superstardom. Her experience speaks to themes of resilience, privacy, and dignity — values that resonate loudly in an era of spectacle.

Quick Bio of Janet Condra

Item	Details
Full name	Janet Condra
Birthplace	French Lick, Indiana (small-town Indiana roots)
Education	Springs Valley High School
First marriage	Larry Bird (1975–1976)
Children	Corrie Bird (with Larry Bird); Mandy (with second husband, Mike Deakins)
Career	Worked as a mail carrier (postal worker) in Indiana (reported by multiple profiles)
Estimated net worth	Reported estimates ~ $500,000 (popular media estimates — see note on sources)
Current life	Private, likely living in Indiana; no significant social media presence

Early Life and Background

Janet Condra was raised in French Lick, Indiana, a small town where community ties run deep and high school sports are a cultural heartbeat. She attended Springs Valley High School — the same local circuit where Larry Bird honed the skills that would carry him to collegiate and professional success. The French Lick/Springs Valley environment was formative: close-knit, practical, and devoted to family and local traditions. It’s in that setting that Janet and Larry’s paths first crossed, not yet entwined with national headlines.

Current Age and Physical Appearance

Exact birth records for Janet Condra are not widely published; most media profiles place her birth in the 1950s, which would make her in her early-to-mid 70s as of the mid-2020s. Condra has long preferred privacy; there are few contemporary public images and no active social accounts under her name that would offer updated personal details. Descriptions in older reports note her as possessing an unassuming, small-town appearance — someone who leaned toward simplicity rather than flashy presentation. Given her careful privacy choices, any focus on physical detail should be handled respectfully and sparingly.

Meeting Larry Bird: High School Sweethearts

Janet and Larry’s story began like many small-town romances: school dances, shared friends, and a courtship played out in quiet local venues. Both attended Springs Valley High School where the teen Bird was already recognized for his basketball dedication. Sometimes backstory is the best root for empathy — picture teenagers dreaming about life beyond a small town, making promises that the future would challenge in ways they didn’t anticipate. High school romance rooted their early relationship, and for a time it felt like the classic hometown love story.

Marriage to Larry Bird

Janet and Larry married in November 1975. They were young and facing vastly different trajectories: Larry was on the cusp of major athletic breakthrough, while Janet was preparing for a more conventional domestic and small-town life. The pressures that come with sudden or burgeoning fame are real — time on the road, intense training, and shifting personal priorities. Those pressures, plus the couple’s youth, contributed to marital strain. The marriage lasted less than a year; they divorced in 1976. This short union would set the stage for a more complicated chapter: Janet’s pregnancy and raising a child largely outside of Bird’s immediate day-to-day life. (Marriage and divorce dates: widely reported in biographies and public profiles of Bird and summarized in mainstream references.)

Who Is Larry Bird? (Context)

To understand the environment Janet navigated, it helps to briefly sketch Larry Bird’s rise. Born in 1956 in Indiana, Bird’s career arc took him from local high school phenom to slamming success at Indiana State University and then to NBA stardom with the Boston Celtics. A three-time NBA champion, three-time MVP, and basketball icon, Bird’s professional life demanded travel, training, and intense media focus. His enormous contribution to the sport and his cultural stature explain why anyone connected to him — even briefly — may find their past periodically resurfacing in public conversation. Bird’s net worth has been consistently estimated in mainstream estimators at around $75 million, reflecting earnings from playing, coaching, executive roles, endorsements, and business activities.

Birth of Their Daughter: Corrie Bird

Shortly after their divorce, Janet learned she was pregnant. In August 1977 she gave birth to Corrie Bird. The arrival of Corrie complicated already difficult dynamics: early on, Larry reportedly doubted the child’s paternity until tests proved otherwise. The situation added emotional strain to Janet’s life as a newly single mother. Public reporting notes that while Larry accepted paternity and provided some financial provisions, he was not deeply involved in Corrie’s day-to-day upbringing during her early years — a reality shaped by his ascendant basketball career and the demands that came with it. The birth of Corrie is a key turning point in Janet’s life: she shifted from being labeled as a brief spouse to the sustained role of single parent, anchor, and protector.

Life After Divorce: Janet as a Single Mother

Single parenthood in the late 1970s and early 1980s came with different social supports and pressures than today. Janet worked to provide a stable home for Corrie, balancing employment with childcare. Multiple profiles indicate she worked as a mail carrier — a steady, community-centered job — that helped her maintain independence and build a modest financial foundation. Choosing to avoid media attention, Janet inscribed a boundary between her private family and the public figure Larry Bird had become. Her story is emblematic of many who live outside celebrity but shoulder the labor of family formation and protection.

Janet’s approach to motherhood was quiet and resolute. She created a protected space for Corrie to grow, deliberately minimizing publicity and curiosity. That choice, while it meant less public recognition, arguably offered Corrie — and Janet — a greater chance at normalcy.

Relationship Between Larry Bird and Corrie Bird

Reports over the years paint a complex picture of Larry’s relationship with Corrie. Initially distant, Larry later acknowledged Corrie publicly and made certain financial provisions for her (including reported trust arrangements). Their bond evolved slowly; Bird’s commitments to basketball and later personal life meant that fatherhood for Corrie did not resemble conventional daily involvement. Sources indicate that while Bird eventually attempted to build a better relationship, the early years of distance left their imprint. Stories about high-profile parents and children often oscillate between reconciliation and continued distance — in this case, the arc appears gradual and private rather than dramatic and public.

Janet Condra’s Career and Personal Independence

Janet’s decision to work as a mail carrier after her divorce was practical and symbolic. It provided reliable income, rooted her in community routines, and underscored her preference for a life of service over spectacle. Holding a steady job in a small town allowed Janet to support Corrie while maintaining the privacy she valued. This facet of her life is important because it reframes her narrative: she is not simply an ex-spouse of a superstar, but a working woman who carved out dignity through ordinary labor.

The choice to avoid the spotlight — to put family over fame — is a recurring theme in stories about Janet. She remained connected to the town rhythms of Indiana, building a modest life informed by everyday responsibilities and relationships.

Second Marriage to Mike Deakins and Family Life

Later, Janet remarried — to a man named Mike Deakins — and they had a daughter named Mandy. This second chapter offered Janet renewed stability and the chance to grow a family life that was firmly protected from media attention. Little public documentation exists about the specifics of this marriage, which aligns with Janet’s careful privacy. The few public mentions focus on family events — like Mandy performing at Corrie’s wedding — rather than sensational headlines. Janet’s second marriage underscores her preference for building a life away from public consumption.

Larry Bird’s Life After Divorce from Janet Condra

Larry Bird’s life after his first marriage continued on a separate path. He eventually married Dinah Mattingly in 1989; the couple adopted two children, Connor and Mariah. Bird’s public story pivoted to basketball greatness, coaching, and executive roles, while he generally maintained privacy about his intimate life. His later life included philanthropy and continued involvement with basketball in various capacities. Bird’s perspective often reflected his working-class upbringing — cautious about ostentation, invested in the game, and protective of personal privacy even amid public success.

Janet Condra’s Current Life Today

Janet Condra has continued to live under the radar. Most accounts place her still in Indiana, choosing to keep family life away from media intrigue. She does not maintain a public social media profile, and contemporary photographs of her are rare and generally appear only in profiles that focus on Larry Bird’s personal history. That sustained privacy is a conscious lifestyle choice: for Janet, the protection of family, dignity, and everyday routines outweighed the curious attention of celebrity culture.

Legacy and Reflection

What is Janet Condra’s legacy? It’s not trophies or viral moments. Instead, it’s the quieter, often overlooked influence of steady care, personal courage, and the choice to prioritize family stability over public validation. Her life offers several reflective lessons:

• Resilience over recognition. Janet’s strength showed up not in headlines but in daily work and parenting.
• Privacy as agency. Choosing a private life can be a powerful means of self-determination, especially when someone close becomes world-famous.
• Everyday dignity. Her story reframes “success” away from celebrity and toward sustaining love, safety, and normalcy for family.

These values matter because celebrity narratives have a tendency to eclipse the very real human stories around them. Janet’s path invites readers to recognize the dignity in ordinary lives.

Janet Condra Net Worth and Financial Status

Estimating personal net worth for private individuals is fraught with uncertainty. Public estimators and profile sites commonly list Janet Condra’s net worth at roughly $500,000, a figure derived from reported employment, modest investments, and her personal life rather than any large celebrity payout. These numbers are best read as approximate media estimates rather than audited fact. In contrast, Larry Bird’s reported net worth (estimated by well-known celebrity estimators) is commonly placed around $75 million, reflecting decades of earnings from his playing contract, endorsements, coaching, executive roles, and investment activity. These contrasts highlight divergent life choices: Janet’s life centered on stability and privacy; Bird’s combined fame, earnings, and sports legacy produced substantial wealth.

Facts & Figures (Quick Reference)

• Marriage: Janet Condra and Larry Bird married in November 1975 and divorced less than a year later (1976).
• Birth of daughter Corrie: Corrie Bird was born in August 1977; paternity was confirmed after initial doubt.
• Reported net worth (Larry Bird): ~ $75 million (estimates across popular wealth trackers).
• Reported net worth (Janet Condra): ~ $500,000 (media estimates).

Conclusion

Janet Condra’s biography is a study in choice: she could have ridden the current of celebrity, but she chose something quieter and, in many ways, tougher. Raising a child alone, working a steady job, remarrying, and consistently protecting her family from public view required stamina and principled boundaries. Her life is a reminder that proximity to fame doesn’t have to define someone’s identity. Instead, Janet’s story invites appreciation for the resilience that builds lives away from applause — a resilience that is profoundly human and quietly heroic.

FAQs About Larry Bird’s First Wife — Janet Condra

1. Who was Larry Bird’s first wife?
Janet Condra was Larry Bird’s first wife; they married in November 1975 and divorced in 1976.

2. Do Janet Condra and Larry Bird have children together?
Yes — they have a daughter, Corrie Bird, born in August 1977.

3. Why didn’t Larry Bird raise Corrie full-time?
Early in Corrie’s life Larry was focused on his basketball career; he initially doubted paternity but later acknowledged fatherhood and provided financial support. Efforts to build their relationship occurred gradually over time.

4. What did Janet Condra do for work?
Multiple profiles report Janet worked as a mail carrier in Indiana, a role that provided stable income and community ties.

5. Is Janet Condra active on social media or in public life?
No — Janet has maintained a private life, avoiding social platforms and publicity to protect her family’s privacy.

6. What is the estimated net worth of Janet Condra?
Public media estimators commonly list her net worth at around $500,000; treat this as an approximation rather than a definitive audit.

7. Did Janet Condra remarry?
Yes — she later married Mike Deakins and had a daughter named Mandy; this chapter of her life has been kept private.

Final Thought

There’s a hunger in popular culture for celebrity origin stories, but the lives that orbit fame often reveal truths about sacrifice, protection, and the quiet work of love. Janet Condra’s story is not a footnote — it’s a demonstration that privacy, labor, and motherhood can be just as powerful as public accolades. Her life reminds us that dignity is built in small, steady choices, and that sometimes the most compelling legacies are those lived away from the cameras.

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