John Duane “JD” Byer, 88, of Staunton, Virginia, passed away Tuesday, March 19, 2024, at Augusta Health Hospice of the Shenandoah, in Fishersville, Virginia.
Born November 2, 1935, in Alleghany County, Virginia, he was a son of the late John Wesley Byer and Muriel Marie Helder Byer.
Mr. Byer retired as a Civil Superintendent with Casey Industrial Inc. He was a proud veteran of the United States Air Force.
He graduated from Covington High School and Chicago Polytechnic Institute. He served a Tour of Duty in 1955 at the Ben Guier Air Force Base in Morocco, North Africa, and a Tour of Duty in 1957 at the Royal Air Force Base, Brize Norton, England. After active duty, he served in the Air Force Reserve as a SSGT. He was a member of American Legion Post #4 in Covington, Virginia, and a lifetime member of the Sampson AFB Veterans Association. Following his military service, he worked in residential and commercial construction. After working at the Virginia Power Pumped Storage Station in Bath County, Virginia, J.D. traveled to multiple states with Flour Daniels and Casey Industrial, retiring as a Civil Superintendent from Casey Industrial. He was a past member of the Mountain Grove United Methodist Church where he was a Sunday School teacher, Lay Leader, Lay Speaker, and actively participated in special services and other activities. After moving to Staunton, he attended the Greenville United Methodist Church. He was an avid outdoorsman who enjoyed hunting and fishing and was a member of the McLaughlin Hunt Club in Mountain Grove. He was a loving husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather.
He is survived by his wife of 64 years, Nobel McLau-ghlin Byer, whom he married August 7, 1959; daughter, Dana Byer German, and husband, Robert “Chip,” of Charlottesville, Virginia; grandson, Phillip Duane Abbott, and wife, Shannon, of Charlottesville, Virginia; great-granddaughter, Nora Marilyn Abbott, of Charlottesville, Virginia; sisters, Muriel Louise Byer, of Clemmons, North Carolina, and Jessie Ellen Byer Turner Rose, of Mechanicsville, Virginia; brothers-in-law, E.B. Reynolds, of Clemmons, North Carolina, and Donald Morris, of Thaxton, Virginia; sisters-in-law, Shirley May McLaughlin, of Roanoke, Virginia, and Leta Foster McLaughlin, of Covington, Virginia; and a number of nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by two sisters, Mary Sue Byer Reynolds and Jean Marie Byer Morris; a niece, who was raised as a sister, Gloria Jean Byer Topping; two brothers, Charles Byron Byer and Stephen Kent Byer.
Funeral service was conducted Monday, March 25, 2024, at McLaughlin and Young Funeral Home with Reverend Sam Felton officiating. Interment was in Warm Springs Cemetery.
Pallbearers were Phillip Abbott, Steve Byer, Vernon “VP” McLaughlin, Harper Douglas McLaughlin, Steve Gibson, Frankie Chestnut, Dana Pritt, Ricky Shinault, and Bart Ailstock.
Memorial donations may be made to Warm Springs Cemetery, c/o Bruce Mc-Williams, 277 Cedar Field Lane, Millboro, Virginia 24460 or St Jude’s Children’s Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105.
