James F. Byrne

1931 - 2019

JAMES F. BYRNE

NORTH MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. — James F. Byrne, 88, of North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, passed away on Nov. 6, 2019.

Jimmy was born in Goldsboro on July 30, 1931, the son of Carson C. Byrne and Clementine Stephens.

Jimmy was a lifetime member of the First Baptist Church of Fairmont, where he served as a Sunday School teacher for over 40 years. He was an active civic leader on the local, county, state and national levels throughout his life. He received a B.S. degree from Wake Forest University in 1953 and a master's degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel in 1959.

He served on the Board of Directors of the American Lung Association for 35 years, as well as state president of the Association. He also served as director of the board on the Executive Committee of the American Lung Association in New York for 12 years. He received the Humanitarian Award in 1993 from the National Office and retired as its vice president.

Jimmy served on the Endowment Board and Library Board of The University of North Carolina at Pembroke. He was on the founding committee of the Robeson County Community Foundation and served as its first president. He served as chairman of the Fundraising Committee of Southeastern General Hospital, and as president of the Fairmont Development Corporation. He also served as president of the Fairmont Rotary Club and as auctioneer for its fundraiser for 43 years. He was a Mason and a Shriner and served several terms as Shrine president.

Jim retired as senior executive vice president and chief executive officer of Southern National Bank, presently BB&T. He enjoyed his innovative years with the bank with new product development and customer services which were the first of their kind, to include setting up the first off premises automatic teller machines throughout N.C. He retired in 1993 after 31 years of service. He and his wife, Daphne, retired in North Myrtle Bach, South Carolina, in 1993.

He is survived by his three daughters, Paula Drafts and husband, Alex Drafts, of Columbia, S.C., Ann Taylor of Little River, S.C., and Laura Roebuck and husband, Kenneth Roebuck, of Wilmington. He is also survived by his three grandsons, James Drafts of Longmont, Colo., Austin Taylor and his wife, Carson Taylor, of Columbia, S.C., and Matthew Taylor of Columbia S.C.; as well as his sister, Virginia Tedder of Greensboro.

A memorial service will be held at the First Baptist Church, 416 South Main St., Fairmont, N.C., 28340, on Saturday at 11 a.m. A visitation will precede the service in the Vestibule at 10 a.m.