Friends of a Nashville Primary School student who was killed in 1983 are looking to revive a memorial baseball scholarship established in his honor.
Brad Byers, the son of Joy and David Byers, now of Mesa, Ariz., has been described as “an outgoing, kind-hearted, energetic little boy who loved playing baseball more than most anything in the world.” His favorite team was the Atlanta Braves, and his favorite player was Atlanta’s Dale Murphy. Byers died at age 8-1/2 on July 23, 1983 in a three-wheeler accident. He was in the third grade and would have been a member of the NHS class of 1993.
Following their son’s death, Joy and David struggled to regain their own lives and, according to friends, one of the things that kept them going was their love of baseball and their involvement in the local baseball programs.
“They were loyal Scrapper fans and sat here in their lawn chairs right behind home plate,” said Joanna (Martin) Howard, who would have graduated with Byers in 1993. “Rarely an umpire called a game who did not hear their opinion.”
In 1993, the Byers family began awarding the Brad Byers Memorial Scholarship to a senior baseball player in their son’s memory. The annual scholarship was $500.
Due to declining health, Joy and David moved to Arizona to live near son, Davey, and they can no longer award the scholarship.
This is where classmates, the Nashville Scrapper baseball program and local community come in to help.
“Some friends and family want to keep Brad’s memory alive and have begun to raise funds to continue awarding a scholarship in his memory,” Howard said.
The goal is to have the scholarship endowed with a goal of $15,000 to be raised.
An account has been set up at
Diamond Bank where donations will be accepted for the scholarship. For more information the account or the scholarship, contact Michael Howard or Jon Howard.
Also, information about the memorial scholarship will be announced at every home Scrapper baseball game and fans will have a chance to donate to the cause.
When the Byers family was contacted about the local effort to revive the scholarship, they were humbled and issued the following statement:
“It brings us great joy to know that after 35 years that our Brad is not forgotten. We are humbled that our son and brother would be honored this way. The people of Nashville have always been of great support to us and we would have never been able to put one foot in front of the other without their love and continued prayers. Thank you to everyone for this amazing gesture.”
