Alaya Lynn Byrd, 16
September 11, 2008 – February 11, 2025
“He will wipe away every tear from their eyes and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” Revelation 21:4
Alaya Lynn Byrd, 16, born September 11, 2008, in New Albany, to Seth and April Lynn Byrd of Blue Mountain, ran into the arms of Jesus Tuesday night, February 11, 2025, at Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee.
Funeral Services honoring the life of Alaya will be at 3 PM, Sunday, February 16, 2025, at Flat Rock Baptist Church with Bro. John Mark Jarrett officiating. Visitation will be from 2 PM until time of service at Flat Rock Baptist Church, with a private burial in the Flat Rock Baptist Church Cemetery.
Alaya, a miraculous work of God, overcame every obstacle despite the odds given to her by several physicians for sixteen years. She was brave, strong and her parents greatest blessing. Her big smile was contagious and if you could get her to laugh, at times she would lose her breath from laughing so hard.
With a love for hot bubble baths, which her mother referred to as her ”spa time”, she was a real-life princess. She liked getting her hair fixed, her nails painted, and enjoyed the fresh air on warm days sitting outside watching her siblings play. Garfield was her favorite movie, and she delighted in going to the movies and listening to music of any kind. She cherished every conversation, her face beaming with joy as she engaged with those around her. She was a mommy’s girl from the day she was born but refused to let anyone, but her daddy put her down at bedtime, or she just wasn’t having it at all. She was more than just her mother’s best friend; those who truly understood their bond recognized that it was Alaya who took care of her mother. Love isn’t only shared through words, though. Love is much deeper than words and love was Alaya.
Those left to cherish her memories are her parents, April and Seth, her adored siblings, Sadie, Chasley, and Crosston Byrd, her grandparents, Dennis and Sandie Cayson and Rhonda Moore, her great-grandmother, Etta McNutt, her special aunt, Gracie Cayson, a host of aunts, uncles and cousins, her special nurses, Megan Thompson, Hydi Crayton, Misty Fine, and Madison Hawkins, her very special friend, Mrs. Dot Jackson and her two canine companions, Hardy and Barley.
Those honored to serve as Alaya’s pallbearers are Dennis Cayson, Chris Cox, Bro. John Mark Jarrett, Hamer McKenzie, Wayne Riles and Shane Ward. Honorary pallbearers are Crosston Byrd, Trace Ward and Ayden Ward.
She was preceded in death by her grandmother, Tracie Byrd.
Ripley Funeral Home invites you to share memories with Alaya’s family.
Please follow the funeral home link above for further information, or to send online condolences or memorial gifts.
