Junior Byard

Perry Lincoln "Junior" "Junie" Byard, Jr.


Born:
May 9, 1911
Parkerburg, WV

Died:
December 25, 1976
Fort Lauderdale, FL


Career
1926-27 Detroit Northern High School - Michigan (High School)
1931-32 Ferris Institute - Michigan (College)
1932-33 Ferris Institute - Michigan (College)
1934-35 Jaglowicz (Detroit Basketball Association)
1935-36 Windsor Cooper Buses (MBC)

Identifying Junior Byard was difficult. Searching newspapers, I found he did indeed attend Ferris, played basketball in Detroit in the DBA, and even found a box score from his high school days at Detroit Nothern. So where to go from there? Searching "Junior Byard" in Michigan in genealogy records yielded nothing. But assuming he was born roughly in 1910, a just started looking at every "Byard" in Wayne county in the 1920 census who had the same name as his father. That got me to a Perry Byard. Okay, so Perry Byard was a "junior" in Wayne County, but was he the "Junior Byard" who played basketball?

The answer to that question is "Yes." I found an article in the Detroit Free Press saying the Perry Byard, a very skilled golfer, was also on the Detroit Northern HS Championshp basketball team. So hooray for me! Mystery solved.

Born in West Virginia to Perry and Rosalie, Perry and the family moved to Detroit for better prospects. Byard took to basketball and golf, and later in life was an accomplished golf pro in Michigan. He was also president of Southeastern Broach, Inc., at the time of his death.

Junior married Mary Begle (1917-1999) in 1939. They had a son, Mark (1946-1965) and two daughters, including Sharon (1942-1942).


Source:
Detroit Free Press, August 9, 1929



Stats:
http://probasketballencyclopedia.com/player/junior-byard/