William Edward Byrum, 89, of Suffolk, died Monday, Feb. 17, 2003, in Obici Hospital.

Born on Nov. 10, 1913, in Chowan County, N.C., he was a son of the late William Jessie and Nellie Chappell Byrum.

Mr. Byrum was a member of Suffolk Pentecostal Holiness Church.

He had retired from Planters as a machinist.

Survivors include his wife, Elnora Dail Byrum; daughter, Ruth B. Wiggins, her husband, Horace, of Suffolk; sons and daughters-in-law, William Lee and Jannie Byrum, David and Barbara Byrum, Sam and Faye Byrum, Jack and Bonnie Byrum, all of Suffolk; sisters, Irene Jones and Annie Bilby, both of Suffolk; and Marie Matthews of Gates Co., N.C.; brother, Hubert T. Byrum of Windsor; six grandchildren; two step-grandchildren; four great-grandchildren.

The funeral will be conducted at 2 p.m. Thursday in the R.W. Baker and Co. Funeral Home by the Rev. Daniel J. Campbell and the Rev. Stewart McCarter, with burial in Holly Lawn Cemetery.

The family will receive friends in the funeral home from 7-8 p.m. Wednesday, and other times at the home of William Lee Byrum, 3324 Deer Path R