William Kirk (Sonny) Byars, Jr., age 81, of Gordo, Alabama, died Tuesday, December 2, 2025, at home with family.  Funeral Services will be held at 2:00 PM on Friday, December 5, 2025, at the Skelton Funeral Home Chapel in Reform, Alabama, with Rev. Bobby Boothe, Pastor of Elmore Center United Methodist Church, officiating the service. A family visitation will be held one hour prior to the funeral along with a short time after the funeral. A private burial will take place at Center Springs Cemetery in Gordo with Skelton Funeral Home of Reform directing.
Mr. Byars is preceded in death by his father, William Kirk Byars, Sr., his mother, Ella Mae House Byars; his brother, Bobby Ray Byars; his sisters, Bennie Sue Byars Mitchell and Betty Jean Byars Fair; great-grandson Aiden Heath Byars; brothers-in-law, Jeff Mitchell and Jimmy Garner.
Survivors include his wife of 54 years, Rosie Louise Patchen Byars; three sons, William Kirk (Billy) Byars, III (Monica) of Huntsville, Alabama, Kenny Ray Strickland of Kennedy, Alabama, and Kent Strickland (Susie) of Fayette, Alabama; three granddaughters, Kelsea Michele Strickland Byars (Heath) of Fayette, Alabama, Emily Paige Byars of Huntsville, Alabama, and Anna Katherine Byars (Peyton Kuhlers) of Chapel Hill, North Carolina; one great-grandson, Hayden Heath Byars, Fayette, Alabama; two sisters, Billie Mae Byars Hall and Bonnie Faye Byars Garner, both of Gordo; and two brothers-in-law, Mack Fair and Gerald Hall, both of Gordo.
Mr. Sonny Byars was born May 13, 1944, in Gordo, Alabama, to the late William Kirk Byars, Sr. and Ella Mae House Byars. He was a graduate of Gordo High School, a member of Elmore Center United Methodist Church, a retired 30-year employee of BFGoodrich / Michelin, a member of the United States Army Reserves, and a lifelong resident of Gordo and Pickens County.
Honorary pallbearers are members of Elmore Center United Methodist Church and friends in the Gordo community. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorials be made in memory of Sonny Byars to Center Springs Cemetery Fund c/o Mary Tilly, 337 County Road 21, Gordo, AL 35466 and/or Live Like Libby – Love Like Libby Foundation,1486 County Road 21, Gordo, AL 35466; www.livelikelibby-lovelikelibby.org.