Joseph Clark Byrd

A True American Hero has gone to his final rest. Clark was born on April 24, 1944, in Bay Minette, Alabama to William T. Byrd and Lenora Revell Byrd. He and his sister Frances would grow up learning the values of honesty, integrity, and hard work. At the young age of 12, Clark would lose his father and become the provider for his family, until he moved away to attend Bob Jones University, in Greenville, South Carolina. Clark later joined the military in 1965 and was deployed overseas to serve in the Southeast Asian conflict. Clark was discharged from the military after over a decade of honorable service and returned home to Tallahassee where he would meet the love of his life, Paulette. After a whirlwind courtship, they were married on January 24, 1969. Clark spent his career working in civil service for the State of Florida and continued to serve in the Florida National Guard and the Tallahassee Police Reserves. Clark retired for the second and final time in 2013. Clark was a member of several service organizations during his life including the Order of Freemasons and Marzuq Shrine. Clark had many interests that included buying and selling numerous homes in the 80’s when Paulette got bored, constant home improvement and additions, travel, motorcycles, and guns. Dear Lord, he loved his second amendment rights and the toys he gleefully purchased and proudly displayed. He also enjoyed hunting and fishing and treasured the time he spent in nature with his friends and family. To say Clark was a family man was an understatement. He loved his family more than anything else and there was nothing he wouldn’t do for his beloved family, which included his blood relatives, other family members and friends he met along the way. His ability to make lifelong friends and to make those friends feel like family were his most endearing and beautiful qualities. Clark was an amazing husband, father, and grandfather. His marriage to Paulette for 57 years stood as a testament for the love and devotion he had for his family and loved ones. While he always loved to travel and experience the world, he was most at home on the porch he constructed at their home, with a glass of his favorite spirit, a cigar and the most recent Guns and Ammo magazine. Clark is survived by his beloved wife Paulette, his son Kevin (Lisa), his daughter, Stephanie Byrd Griesheimer (Donnie). He is also survived by his adored grandchildren, Donald Lee Griesheimer, III, (Sarah) and their expected daughter, Lucina, Bayne Griesheimer, Michael Byrd, Elliott Griesheimer and Ashley Byrd, and also his six nephews, Kenneth and Errol Hattaway, Trevor Byrd, Ricky and Trevor Milam and Dennis Whaley. Clark was preceded in death by his parents, his siblings, sisters Frances Milam and Elizabeth Hattaway, his brothers W.T. Byrd and T.D. Whaley and his nephew Brian Whaley. Funeral services will be held at Bevis Funeral Home, 200 John Knox Road, at 1:00 pm for viewing and a service to follow at 2:00 pm on Thursday, April 9, 2026 Donations may be made to the Shriners Hospitals for Children, https://donate.shrinerschildrens.org Niki Carney of Bevis Funeral Home (www.bevisfh.com or 850-385-2193) is assisting the Byrd family with their arrangements.

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Joseph Clark Byrd

April 24, 1944 - March 30, 2026