Sammy Byrum

   Wallace Sanford “Sammy” Byrum, Sr., 82, of 236 Nixon Road, Edenton, NC, passed away peacefully on Saturday, June 10, 2017, in the Palliative Care Unit at Vidant Medical Center in Greenville.

   Mr. Byrum was born in Chowan County on August 12, 1934, and was the son of the late William Vandy Byrum, Sr. and Ada White Byrum. In 1955, he enlisted in the United States Air Force, and was Honorably discharged in February 1959. A former recipient of Chowan County’s Outstanding Young Farmer of the Year Award, he had later worked with the USDA as a Federal Meat Inspector/Supervisor, and with both the Albemarle Cotton Growers Co-op, and Gates Cotton Gin, Inc.

   A member of Rocky Hock Baptist Church, he had served as a deacon and had been a member of its Adult Choir, was a 50 year member of Unanimity Masonic Lodge #7, a member of the Edward G. Bond Post #40 of the American Legion, had served in the Edenton-Chowan Rescue Squad, had been active with various area Country Music and Bluegrass groups, and for over 50 years sang with the Rocky Hock Quartet. Sammy had a love for music and was always willing to teach and provide instruments for anyone who wanted to learn.

   In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his sisters, Esther Mae Byrum, Beatrice Ward, and Ruby Nixon; and by his brothers, infant Lewis Byrum, William Vandy Byrum, Jr., Mark White Byrum, and Wayland West Byrum.

   Surviving are his wife, Peggy Turner Byrum; a daughter, Belinda Byrum McKeel and husband Mike of Greenville; two sons, Wallace Sanford “Wally” Byrum, Jr. and wife Mary of Suffolk, VA, and James Bryant Byrum of Edenton; six grandchildren, James Daniel Byrum, Timothy Kyle McKeel, Amber Byrum, Clinton Vandy Byrum, Christopher Luke McKeel, and Jacob Samuel Byrum; three great-grandchildren, Holton, Brooklynn, and Jadyn; and three sisters-in-law, Audrey, Chip and Peggy Byrum.

   Funeral services will be held Monday at 11:00 a.m. in Rocky Hock Baptist Church and will be conducted by his pastor, Dr. James Horton. Military Honors will be accorded in the church and a private burial will be on the family plot in Beaver Hill Cemetery. Friends may join the family Sunday from 4 to 6 p.m. in Miller Funeral Home & Crematory, 735 Virginia Road, Edenton.

   In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to any chapter of the American Heart Association, or online at www.heart.org.

   Online condolences may be made by visiting www.millerfhc.com.