Byam, Virginia Jayne Beresford

Virginia Jayne Beresford Byam, 89, died Friday, July 20, 2012, at St. Margaret Hall in Cincinnati, Ohio, where she had been a resident since 2006. A Memorial Service will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 4, at the Vinton Presbyterian Church with Pastor Fred Darbonne officiating. Interment will be at Evergreen Cemetery, Vinton. Phillips Funeral Home, Vinton, is in charge of arrangements.

Jayne was born on Nov. 17, 1922, to Harold and Lillian Beresford on a farm outside Vinton. She spent her girlhood in both Iowa and Staunton, Va., and graduated at 16 from Lincoln High School in Vinton. During World War II, she moved to Washington D.C. to assist in the war effort. Following her service to the War Department, Jayne returned to Iowa and worked for many years in the Vinton office of the Agriculture Stabilization and Conservation Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. She married Lloyd “Cal” Byam in January 1949 at Prairie Creek Church and later worked with him at State Farm Insurance. Cal passed away in 1996.

For more than 50 years, Jayne was a member of the American Legion Auxiliary, the Daughters of the American Revolution and the Vinton Presbyterian Church. She took classes from the University of Iowa and in her spare time she enjoyed reading, working crossword puzzles and quilting.

Jayne is survived by her sister, Betty Mayhew of Cedar Falls; her daughter, Brooke Byam of Cincinnati; her daughter, Dr. Paige Byam Soliday and husband, Justin of Cincinnati; and her grandchildren, Jordan Bernsmeier of Athens, Ohio, and Hal, Jasper, Hugh and Simon Gores of Cincinnati.

She is also survived by many nieces, nephews, their children and grandchildren.

Memorials may be directed to St. Margaret Hall, 1960 Madison Rd., Cincinnati, OH 45206; or the Vinton Presbyterian Church.

Published in The Gazette Aug. 1, 2012.