Bobby L. Byrd

A service to commemorate the life of Bobby Lee Byrd will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, March 11, 2023, at Haile Gold Mine Baptist Church in Kershaw, SC. Visitation will be held one hour prior to the service beginning at 10:00 a.m. in the church sanctuary. Interment will follow the service in the church cemetery.

Mr. Byrd, 90, died peacefully at his home on Thursday, March 9, 2023. Born in Kershaw, he was the son of the late John Lee and Lillie Lou Elza Payne Byrd. Bobby attended Haile Gold Mine Elementary School and Flat Creek High School, where he excelled in sports—especially basketball. He was offered a scholarship to play center for the University of South Carolina. While he did not remain in college, he remained a lifelong Gamecock fan. He returned to Flat Creek, where he worked for Haile Gold Mine. On December 7, 1951, he eloped with Shirley Ann Robinson after the Kershaw Christmas Parade. He worked at Springs Mills in Kershaw until its closure. He served as a trustee on the Flat Creek and Andrew Jackson Area Schools school boards. At Haile Gold Mine Baptist Church, he served as a deacon and Sunday school teacher.

In addition to cheering for the Gamecocks, he enjoyed woodworking, attending NASCAR races, and hunting. Bobby enjoyed telling stories about his adventures at the football games and races. One of his favorites was the time he, his brother John, and Minton Phillips found their car blocked by a Volkswagen at a USC–Georgia Tech game in Atlanta. Undeterred, they managed to move the Volkswagen so they could get out of the parking lot. A Georgia Tech student witnessing the incident exclaimed, “Look! It’s the Six Million Dollar Man!”

Bobby is survived by his wife of 71 years, Shirley Ann Robinson Byrd; daughters, Lynn (Charles) Welch and Ann Byrd; daughter-in-law, Jeraldine Byrd; grandson, Lee Welch; granddaughters, Jessica (Jonathan) Payne and Caroline Welch Dalton; great-grandson, Deuce Dalton; great-granddaughter, Gloria Dalton; special grandson, Michael Taylor; special granddaughter, Tyndall Payne; brother, John Lewis (Mozelle) Byrd; brother-in-law, Gerald Townsend; sisters-in-law, Peggy R. (Joe Earl) Williams and Patricia R. Shaw; and a number of other close relatives and friends. Besides his parents, he was preceded in death by sons, Bobby Lee Byrd, Jr. and Robert Mark Byrd, grandson Chad Byrd, and sisters Ada B. Gordon and Mary Ann Byrd.

Memorial contributions may be made to Haile Gold Mine Baptist Church, 7980 Haile Gold Mine Road, Kershaw, SC 29067, or St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105.

Arrangements are under the care of Baker Funeral Home, Kershaw, SC