March 5, 1911 –

June 16, 2011

Funeral services for Elmer Robert Byrd, 100, of Valdosta, Ga., will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, June 18, in the Chapel of Carson McLane Funeral Home in Valdosta with Dr. Phil West, and the Revs. Mac Weaver and Eldridge Lyons officiating.

Interment will follow at Riverview Memorial Gardens.

In lieu of flowers please consider contributions to Hospice of South Georgia, 2263 Pineview Drive Valdosta, GA 31602.

He was born March 5, 1911, in New Brockton, Ala., a son of the late James Robert and Elizabeth Lammons Byrd. He died Thursday, June 16, 2011, at South Georgia Medical Center after a short illness.

For 25 years he was employed as a welder at Owens Illinois, retiring in 1976. He loved fishing and traveling. Mr. Byrd was a member of the First Baptist Church in Valdosta, a former member of Lee Street Baptist Church, and a member of St. John the Baptist Masonic Lodge No. 184.

He was predeceased by his wife, Emma Lee Nichols Byrd, four sisters and one brother.

He is survived by three sons, Robert Morris Byrd and his wife, Marie, of Opelika, Ala., James Arthur Byrd and his wife, Vickie, of Lake Park, and Jerry Nichols Byrd of Valdosta; three grandsons, Duke Byrd and his wife, Tara, of Birmingham, David Byrd and his wife, Collette, of Auburn, Ala., and Jamie Byrd and his wife, Renee, of Lake Park; two granddaughters, Joanna Phelps and her husband, Dan, of Lake Park, and Emily Byrd of Lake Park; three great-grandchildren, Hannah Phelps, Bray Phelps and Aden Byrd, and many nieces and nephews.

Carson McLane Funeral Home of Valdosta is in charge of the arrangements.