A memorial service for Bryant Byrd, 81, will be held Tuesday, December 19, 2017 at 1:00 p.m. at St. James Episcopal Church, 38 S. Halifax Dr., Ormond Beach. A reception will follow the service at Oceanside Country Club, 75 N. Halifax Dr., Ormond Beach. Burial and Graveside prayers will follow the reception at Volusia Memorial Park, 550 N. Nova Road, Ormond Beach. Calling Hours will be 5-7 p.m. on Monday December the 18th at Lohman Funeral Home Ormond, 733 W. Granada Blvd., in Ormond Beach. Bryant Byrd was born in McCulloh, Alabama in 1936. He was raised on a farm with his mother Edith, his brother Glen, his cousin Paul Byrd, and his extended family. The boys were responsible for many duties on the farm, and Bryant was responsible for milking the cows at 4 a.m. as a young man. He participated in Future Farmers of America events, presenting the family cows to be judged for excellence. This was something that his future wife, Gloria, would find quite endearing. He and Paul became camp counselors at Athens Y camp in Tallulah Falls, Georgia where they learned the importance of service to others, hard work, and dedication to the common good. He received a basketball scholarship to Young Harris Junior College. He played and studied there for two years, and then transferred to Auburn University where he earned the Bachelors of Science in Aeronautical Administraion and served as president of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity. Upon graduation, he moved to Atlanta and worked as a pharmaceutical sales representative for Pfizer. It was here where he met and began to court his wife, Gloria Bell, who was working as a secretary for an Insurance Agency in Atlanta. The two fell in love, and were married in May of 1961. The couple then moved to Daytona Beach, going into the family motel business, starting a family, and establishing friendships in the community. Bryant and Gloria started with some very small properties, then managed the Dune Crest, a mid-sized motel in Daytona Beach. During this time they had their first two children, Bryant Jr. and Amy. Bryant became active in Rotary, The University Club, and The Quarterback Club, befriending Dr. James G. White, and Hyatt Brown with whom he pursued new hobbies of skiing and golf. In 1974, Bryant opened the Outrigger Motel and the Ivanhoe Beach Lodge in Ormond Beach. That same year his third child, Oliver "Stephen," was born. The family has been active in St. James Episcopal Church since the early seventies. Throughout his 50 plus years in the area, Bryant was an active leader and member of several civic organizations. He served as captain of the Quarterback Club, as president of the Rotary, as president of Oceanside Country Club, as president of the Vestry at St. James church, on the YMCA board of directors, on the Daytona Beach Chamber of Commerce, and on the Halifax Hospital board of directors. He is survived by his sons Bryant Jr. and Oliver "Stephen;" his daughter Amy Byrd-Donlick, her husband, Todd Donlick, and their three children: Benjamin, Matthew, and Sam Donlick; his cousins Paul Byrd and Elizabeth Andreas; his nephews: Bart Byrd, Bill Byrd, and his neice Adair Byrd. Feel free to send flowers or, if you prefer, to make a donation to the family's preferred charities: Halifax Health Hospice, Ormond Beach Care Center, 235 Booth Road, Ormond Beach, FL 32174; or, St. James Episcopal Church, 38 South Halifax Drive, Ormond Beach, 32176.
