Obituary: Byrne, Violet Anna “Vi”
Age 83
A memorial service will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Monday, May 18 at the Onecho Bible Church with a light reception following.
Private family burial will take place at the Colfax Cemetery.
Friends may call and pay their respects at Bruning Funeral Home on Thursday, May 14 and Friday, May 15 from 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. each day.
Vi was born on March 22, 1932 in Garfield, Washington to Everett and Elsie Mae (McNeil) Syron.
When she was two years old, the family moved to the Skyline Drive area between Farmington and Tensed where her parents owned a stump farm.
She attended country school with her sister until the eigth grade and then went to work with her sister at the hotel in Potlatch.
She returned to Colfax at age 17 where she worked at the Rogers Seed Plant sorting peas.
Vi worked in Moscow for a short time at a restaurant and also as a nurse’s aide but was, for most of her life, a homemaker.
She met Roy Lord and, after dating for three months, the couple married in 1950.
They made their home in Colfax where Roy was manager of the seed plant.
She and Roy had two children, Cathy and Roy, which were a welcomed addition to Roy’s son Jim and Vi’s son Larry, her first born from her prior marriage to Richard Owens of Potlatch.
In 1961, Roy Sr. went in for a gallstone operation and after starting surgery the doctors found he was severely metastasized with cancer.
During the operation his heart gave out, making Vi a widow at the age of 29.
In 1964 she married Ken Aeschliman and they had two children, Scott and Lori.
Ken passed away from heart failure in 1972.
While living on the Aeschliman ranch, Vi met Tom Byrne who was boarding a horse there.
They were married on January 12, 1974 and the couple made their home in Colfax.
They enjoyed 32 years of marriage before Tom passed away in 2006.
Vi was a member of the Onecho Bible Church for over 50 years and it was at that church that she came to know the Lord.
She was a past Worthy Matron of the Order of the Eastern Star, a Campfire Leader and a Boy Scouts Den Mother.
She loved her children and grandchildren and was often seen at her grandchildren’s sports activities.
She also enjoyed fishing, hunting and traveling.
She is survived by her children Larry Lord of Elk; Cathy (Lauri) Dayton of Mattawa; Roy (Gloria) Lord of Colfax; Scott (Jessica) Aeschliman of Colfax and Lori (Scott) Ackerman also of Colfax.
She is also survived by her stepchildren Jim Lord of Seattle; Jerry (Susie) Byrne of Alaska; Tony Byrne of Spangle; Chris (Gary) Cook of Ritzville; Rebecca (Gordon) Hemphill of Garfield; Pam (Dan) Schmidt of Goldbar, WA.
as well as several grandchildren, great-grandchildren, nieces and nephews.
In addition to her parents and husbands, Vi was preceded in death by her sisters Evelyn Anderson and Hazel Howard, brother Billy Syron, half-brother Donald Bunch and a great-grandson.
Memorial contributions in Vi’s honor are suggested to the Onecho Bible Church or to the Feed the Children Foundation.
BRUNING FUNERAL HOME of Colfax has been entrusted with funeral arrangements.
Online condolences may be left for the family at www.bruningfuneralhome.com