Waydene Byrd

1929 - 2025

Waydene Byrd (Carney)
Born: February 2, 1929
Died: July 13, 2025
Waydene Byrd (Carney) passed away at the age of 96 at her home on July 13, 2025 surrounded by family. Waydene was born February 2, 1929 in Gauze, Tennessee. She was the daughter of James Henry and Julia Etta (Justice) Carney.
She married Benjamin Byrd on October 6, 1948 in Hopkinsville, Kentucky. They were married for 71 years until Benjamin's passing in December of 2019.
Waydene worked as an assembler for Turner Corporation for 40 years. In her younger years she worked on the tobacco farm where she was raised in Tennessee.
She has told many, many stories over the years of coming home after school and going right to the barn and retrieving the horse and plow and heading to the field. She often referred to herself as the tomboy of the family. She wasn't afraid of anything and was the stubborn one of the family.
Waydene was a girl raised in the south (GRITS) with a very strong work ethic and strong will. She will be remembered for all of her "quick-witted sayings and jokes" she could come up with. She very rarely went anywhere that someone didn't pick up on her accent. They would ask where she was from, and her response was "I'm from the Volunteer State." Then she would say now you know where I'm from.
She also loved the garden. Both vegetables and flower gardens. She was always giving away her vegetables to anyone that would want them. Waydene also loved doing crossword puzzles.
The DeKalb Daily Chronicle has lost a very devoted customer. Waydene would not have anything to do with reading the paper "online". She would say, "I want the paper delivered to my mailbox."
The game show Wheel of Fortune has also lost a very devoted viewer. When 6:30 at night came, you had better get out of her way because she was heading to the TV to watch Wheel of Fortune.
She watched every Tennessee sport that she could watch whether it was basketball or football.
Waydene played basketball in high school. She would always tell the story of having to play half court because they were "girls".
Waydene's front porch will never be the same. She loved her front porch. She would sit there for hours. She loved watching what was going on in the neighborhood. She knew who would walk by and at what time they would walk by every day. She even knew their dogs' names as well.
Waydene and Benjamin retired from Turner Corporation on the same day. Each one of them both working 40+ years at Turner's. They would start their journey together. They would travel to California to see her sister, to Florida to see two of her sisters, and of course went back home to the Tennessee farm just about every October to celebrate their anniversary with family.
It was when they were in Florida on one of their trips that they ended up buying a motor home and drove it back to Illinois. They would do some traveling in their motor home. Especially to a place in Wisconsin called Getchell's Resort in Newville. They would spend many years going back and forth from Getchell's. They first started there in a tent and progressed up to the motor home. There were a lot of catfish caught and nights around the campfire. Along with boating and skiing. Waydene would ride in the boat; but you could not go very fast.
Their biggest trip in retirement was to Hawaii. They had very fond memories of that trip.
Waydene is survived by two daughters, Joyce (Steve) Davis of Cortland and Joann Kunkel of Sycamore. Four grandchildren – David (Sarah) Westlake, Jennifer (Rick), Jared (Jenni) Kunkel and Jordan (Holly) Kunkel . She has five great-grandchildren – Harper Weglarz, Jameson, Johonna, Jaxson, and Carter Kunkel.
She is also survived by one sister – Fran Parkerson of Florida and one brother James R. Carney of Tennessee. Waydene also survived by sister-in-law Marcia Byrd of Chana and one brother-in-law Ernie Byrd (Stacy) of Oregon and several nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by her parents: James H. Carney and Julia Etta (Justice) Carney. Her sisters: Mae Shipman, Pearl Eaton, Maxine Ellis, Jerry Balthrop, and brother Emmett Carney.
We wish to thank Dr. Thakkar for all his time spent with Waydene. We would also like to thank Serenity Hospice for all their wonderful care.
Her visitation will be on Friday, July 18th from 6:00-8:00 PM at the Butala Funeral Home, 1405 DeKalb Ave., Sycamore. Her funeral service will be on Saturday, July 19th at 11:00 AM at the Funeral Home. Burial will be at the Elmwood Cemetery.
To sign the online guest book, go to www.ButalaFuneralHomes.com