Mrs. Rose Lena Byrd

BYRD, Mrs. Rose Lena - Age 75, passed away Tuesday, June 16, 2015 at University of Michigan Health System - Ann Arbor, MI. Family hour 10 a.m. Tuesday, June 23, 2015 at House of Prayer Missionary Baptist Church, 1851 W. Carpenter Rd., with funeral service commencing at 11 a.m. Pastor Kenneth L. Stewart officiating. Interment River Rest Cemetery, G-4413 Flushing Rd. Friends and pallbearers will assemble at the church 10 a.m. Tuesday. Mrs. Byrd will lie in state in the Chapel of Lawrence E. Moon Funeral Home, 906 W. Flint Park Blvd., and may be viewed from 12 p.m. - 8 p.m. Monday. Mrs. Rose Lena Byrd was born on January 29, 1940 to Celia and Alfred Mayfield in Boynton, Oklahoma. Upon the death of her mother at a young age, Rose went to Haskell, Oklahoma to live with her grandparents Ollie “Buela” and Johnny Prince. After graduating from Booker T. Washington High School, she moved to Flint, Michigan to live with her father and step-mother Juanita. There she married Joe Byrd and with their union, were born eight children. During the early 60’s and 70’s, Rose assisted with training her husband Joe as he prepared for professional matches. This assistance compelled Rose to become more active in boxing when it was not popular for women to coach and/or work the corner of boxers. Rose went against the norm and became a licensed boxing coach. It is believed that she was the second licensed female boxing coach in the nation and first in the State of Michigan. Rose worked City, Regional, State and National tournaments. She served as team manager for the 1986 Region V U.S. Boxing Federation Tournament, traveling to Lake Placid, New York. Rose assisted her husband Joe when her five sons and daughter turned professional. She worked the corner for her daughter Tracy who became two-time world boxing champion. Rose worked the corner for her youngest son Chris when he won the World Boxing Organization Championship (WBO) in Germany, and the International Boxing Federation World Championship (IBF) in Atlantic City. It was during one of her son’s boxing outings that Rose and her husband Joe accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior! Through boxing, Rose has traveled extensively. She served as former secretary for the National Coaches Committee and the Michigan Amateur Boxing Association. She was a member of the Michigan Association Registration Committee and prior to becoming ill, served as coach and secretary at the Joe Boxing Academy. Rose and her husband Joe were role models to not only their own children but hundreds of youth throughout the City, State and Nation. Upon being inducted into the Greater Flint Afro-American Hall of Fame (GFAAHF) for Community Service in 1997 and the GFAAHF in 2000 as Coach, Rose said that her connection with the sport of boxing began even before she and her husband met. It began with her grandfather who would listen to Joe Louis on the radio. She never dreamed of having a family full of boxers and athletes. Rose has been there for her family mentally, physically and spiritually throughout their days. Throughout her life Rose was very instrumental in her children’s lives as a constant presence at their athletic events. She was a woman of wise counsel to the youth at Hamady High School, where her children attended school or at the Joe Byrd Boxing Academy where she was assistant coach with her husband Joe. Mrs. Rose Byrd leaves to cherish her wonderful memories: husband Joe, eight children: Joe Jr., Timmy (Linda); Laurie, Kay, Tracy, Patrick, and Chris (Tracy), all of Flint; 10 grandchildren: Stephen (Leah), Jordan, Nicholas, Justin, Ka’shonda, Lanae, Sydney, Cameron, Andre and Kennedy; and 1 great-grandchild, Omari; her only living maternal aunt Ollie Hughes; two brothers: Donnie and Larry Mayfield; a host of nephews, nieces, relatives, and friends. Mrs. Byrd is preceded in death by her parents, Alfred and Juanita Mayfield and her mother Celia; brother Alfred Jr., and grandson, Kyle Kelly.

Mrs. Rose Lena Byrd

January 29, 1940 - June 16, 2015