UH and the Sigma Chi fraternity lost a valued member of its community with the passing of John Michael Byrd this past weekend.
An influential brother of Sigma Chi, Byrd, 25, exuded positivity and brought a warmth and magnetism that would take over any room that he walked into.
“The phrase ‘lived life to the fullest’ was created for this guy,” UH graduate and Sigma Chi brother John Phillips said. “I know he would say that he had no regrets in his life at all. He just had this passion for life and friendship, and whatever he chose to surround himself with… Such a unique guy.
“I’ve really never met a guy like that who could care and give so much. It didn’t even register with him because that’s just how he did it.”
Byrd was held in high esteem for the way he handled unnecessary dramatic situations sometimes associated with Greek life.
“In Greek life, in a fraternity with all the machismo, he was just unflappable and just outside of that petty stuff. He didn’t want to deal with it and he didn’t want you to deal with it,” Phillips said. “He ignored prejudices and biases that would normally creep up on someone 22 or 23-years-old in a college setting.”
Byrd, a communications major, graduated from Klein Forest High School in 2004 and was excited about earning his bachelor’s degree from UH sometime this school year.
Sigma Chi is attempting to have the University present a photo of him and hold a moment of silence at the Cougars’ homecoming game against Tulsa on Nov. 13.
A service for Byrd will be held at 11 a.m. Friday at Greenwood Forest Country Club.
“He was a gentleman. There’s nobody else you would ever want to be your friend or represent you as a chapter,” Phillips said. “I just think there will never be another guy like him because I’ve never met anybody else like him. He had such a firm grasp on what was important and what was not — and he wasn’t going to shift from that.”
IH brother.
in hoc