Charles Byrd

Successful in business, Charles Byrd rejoiced in his prosperity not so much because of the opportunities which came to him from his wealth, but because it enabled him to again and again aid his fellowmen. In this he was prompted by no sense of duty but by a higher interest in humanity—a genuine regard for his fellow travelers upon life’s journey. His hand was ever downreaching to aid those who were struggling to raise and he shed around him much of the sunshine of life not only through his material assistance, but also through the words of encouragement and inspiration which he spoke.

Mr. Byrd was born at Lachute, province of Quebec, March 4, 1848, and was therefore sixty-three years of age when he passed away at Nassau, Bahama Islands, on the 3d of March, 1911. He had been a resident of Montreal from early manhood, embarking in the grocery business upon his arrival here. This he abandoned to enter the Munderloh firm in 1868, at which time its founder, William C. Munderloh was in control. After the death of this gentleman Mr. Byrd entered into partnership with Henry Munderloh, son of William C. Munderloh, in the continuation of the business. In 1909 the firm was organized as a joint stock company and Mr. Byrd had active voice in its control, assisting in formulating plans which had to do with its substantial growth and progress. It became one of the important enterprises of the kind in the city and through his connection therewith Mr. Byrd won notable, gratifying and enviable success.

Mr. Byrd was united in marriage in 1873 to Miss Kate Macdonald, a daughter of the late Alexander Roy Macdonald of Montreal. During the last years of his life Mr. Byrd was in poor health and, accompanied by his wife, had spent two winters in the West Indies. He went again in February, 1911, in order to escape the rigors of the Canadian winter and there passed away on the 3d of March.

His memory is enshrined in a halo of good deeds, for he was continually active in support of organized charities or in individual assistance. He gave liberally to a number of the benevolent organizations of Montreal and served on the board of management of the Protestant Hospital for the Insane at Verdun to which he made a contribution of five thousand dollars. He was also one of the board of managers of the Montreal General Hospital to which he gave ten thousand dollars; was vice president of the Protestant House of Industry and Refuge at Longue Pointe, to which he gave ten thousand dollars; was vice president of the Moore Home and an officer of the Irish Protestant Benevolent Society, to which his contribution was five thousand dollars. He gave twenty-five hundred dollars to the Western General Hospital; two thousand dollars to the Alexandra Hospital; two thousand to the Montreal Protestant Orphan Asylum; five hundred dollars to the Boys’ Home; one thousand dollars to St. Patrick’s Society, a goodly sum to the Erskine church for home movements and a sum of twenty-five thousand dollars for foreign movements. He was an elder of the old St. Gabriel church on St. Catherine Street and afterward joined the Erskine Presbyterian church when it was amalgamated with the Chalmers church. A high-minded Christian gentleman, the principles of his religion permeated his life in all of its different connections and his contribution to the world’s progress along moral and religious lines was a valuable one.