Changes

Northwestern State University (1953-1957)

Northwestern State University (1953-1957)

| spouse=(1) Patricia Ann "Pat" Hood Byrd (married 1965-2001, her death)<br>

| spouse=(1) Patricia Ann "Pat" Hood Byrd (married 1965-2001, her death)<br>

(2)  Barbara Crouch Copeland Byrd (married 2003-2016, his death)}}

(2)  Barbara Crouch Copeland Byrd (married 2003-2016, his death)

| footnotes     =  

| footnotes     =  

}}

}}

'''Jerry Barksdale Byrd, Sr.''' (October 4, 1935 &ndash; April 21, 2016), was a legendary [[journalism|sportswriter]] for the now defunct ''[[Shreveport Journal]]'' in his native [[Shreveport]], [[Louisiana]]. He covered sports for the newspaper from May 29, 1957, beginning the morning after his graduation from Northwestern State University in [[Natchitoches, Louisiana|Natchitoches]], Louisiana. He remained with ''The Journal'' under two different long-term publishers, Douglas F. Attaway, Jr., and  Charles Thomas Beaird, until the paper ceased daily operations on March 30, 1991.

'''Jerry Barksdale Byrd, Sr.''' (October 4, 1935 &ndash; April 21, 2016), was a legendary [[journalism|sportswriter]] for the now defunct ''[[Shreveport Journal]]'' in his native [[Shreveport]], [[Louisiana]]. He covered sports for the newspaper from May 29, 1957, beginning the morning after his graduation from Northwestern State University in [[Natchitoches, Louisiana|Natchitoches]], Louisiana. He remained with ''The Journal'' under two different long-term publishers, Douglas Fisher Attaway, Jr. (1910-1994), and  Charles Thomas Beaird (1922-2006), until the paper ceased daily operations on March 30, 1991.

==Background==

==Background==