Raymond Byrne, Jr

Raymond Byrne, Jr., 99, of Fayetteville passed away on Wednesday June 3, 2020.  Raymond was born in New York City, the only child of Raymond Darling Byrne and Gertrude Hall Byrne. He grew up in Manhattan and later White Plains, NY where he developed a lifelong passion for fly-fishing.

In 1940 he joined the army and while on maneuvers in South Carolina he attended a church service and met and fell in love with Eva Boggan, a Liberty Belle. He transferred to the Army Air Corp and served as a bombardier in a B-17 in England flying 28 combat missions for which he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. He returned to the US and married Eva Boggan on Christmas Day, 1944. Their 2 children were born in Bridgeport, CT- Richard Lee in 1945 and Thomas Hall in 1947. He worked for Western Auto in Portland, ME, Miami, FL and Murphy, NC. In 1959 he started working as an air traffic controller in Fayetteville NC where he worked until his retirement in 1979. The airspace over the Fayetteville airport is named for him.

For his entire life he took care of his family, moving his aging parents to Fayetteville in 1967 and being the caretaker for his wife during her years of living with dementia.

Eight years ago after complications from a fall, he was put in hospice care but surprised everyone when he got better and was able to move to a retirement home. He spent the last years of his life at the NC State Veterans Home in Fayetteville where he died peacefully in his sleep on June 3rd after complications from Covid 19.

He was predeceased by his son Richard in 1993 and his wife Eva in 2006. He is survived by his son Tom -Tommy- and his wife Susanne and by his granddaughter Jennifer Byrne Barker and her husband Brent and their children Garrett and Jordan plus many nieces and nephews and their children and grandchildren.

A family graveside service will take place at a later date.  

In Lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Westminster Presbyterian Church or the Salvation Army.

Online condolences may be sent to http://www.jerniganwarren.com

Services entrusted to Jernigan-Warren Funeral Home, 545 Ramsey St., Fayetteville, NC 28301

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