Changes

[[Stanley Tiner]], a former editor of ''The Shreveport Journal'' who later for many years edited ''The Sun Herald'' on the [[Mississippi]] Gulf Coast, once described Byrd as “one of the great treasures of North Louisiana.” The occasion for Tiner's remarks was the  Jerry Byrd Roast benefiting [[Special Olympics]] and the Shreveport Track Club.<ref name=services/> Grieved over Byrd's passing, Shreveport sports legend [[Terry Bradshaw]] said that he "loved" the sportswriting legend.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.shreveporttimes.com/story/sports/2016/04/23/terry-bradshaw-says-he-loved-byrd/83417522/|title=Terry Bradshaw says he 'loved' Byrd|publisher=''The Shreveport Times''|accessdate=April 23, 2016}}</ref>

[[Stanley Tiner]], a former editor of ''The Shreveport Journal'' who later for many years edited ''The Sun Herald'' on the [[Mississippi]] Gulf Coast, once described Byrd as “one of the great treasures of North Louisiana.” The occasion for Tiner's remarks was the  Jerry Byrd Roast benefiting [[Special Olympics]] and the Shreveport Track Club.<ref name=services/> Grieved over Byrd's passing, Shreveport sports legend [[Terry Bradshaw]] said that he "loved" the sportswriting legend.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.shreveporttimes.com/story/sports/2016/04/23/terry-bradshaw-says-he-loved-byrd/83417522/|title=Terry Bradshaw says he 'loved' Byrd|publisher=''The Shreveport Times''|accessdate=April 23, 2016}}</ref>

Byrd, who was a [[Christianity|Christian]],<ref name=nvthyn/> died of natural causes at the age of eighty. He is interred at Sharon Cemetery<ref name=osbornf/> in eastern Claiborne Parish.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=cr&GRid=41832001&CRid=68945&|title=Sharon Cemetery|publisher=Findagrave.com|accessdate=April 24, 2016}}</ref>

In April 2025, Byrd was named a "Distinguished Communicatons Professional by his alma mater, NSU. At the announcement ceremony, Byrd, Jr. said of his father:<br>

 

Our father was a legendary award-winning sportswriter, but he was so much more than that. He was legendary husband, father, and grandfather. In everything he did - whether it was coaching the City of Shreveport swim team, taking a carload of youngsters to a summer track meet in Chicago, Illinois, taking his children to choir practice at First Baptist on Sunday afternoons, teaching a Sunday school class, or writing about a one-legged high jumper from Shreveport's Linwood Middle School, who would meet the President of the United Sates  as a result of an article our father wrote. Jerry Byrd, Sr., was a legendary man who put extraordinary effort into everything he did.<ref>"Three Distinguished Communications Professionals recognized," ''Alumni Columns:  Northwestern State UniversityMagazine,'' p. 3, Summer 2025.</ref>

 

Byrd died of natural causes at the age of eighty. He is interred at Sharon Cemetery<ref name=osbornf/> in eastern Claiborne Parish.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=cr&GRid=41832001&CRid=68945&|title=Sharon Cemetery|publisher=Findagrave.com|accessdate=April 24, 2016}}</ref>

==References==

==References==