Porter Byrum

Byrum was born in Forsyth County, North Carolina, in 1920 to John Thomas Byrum, a Southern Baptist minister, and Isa Ward. He was their fifth and final child, each of them sons. In 1942, a year after his mother's death, he graduated with Juris Doctor from Wake Forest University School of Law, which was then in Wake Forest, North Carolina. == Career ==

In 1967, Byrum bought Park Road Shopping Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. On June 16, 2011, he announced that the shopping center would be donated to three local colleges: Queens University of Charlotte, Wingate University and Wake Forest University. Byrum had held ownership of the shopping center for nearly 44 years. Just one month later, the three colleges sold the shopping center, for $82 million, to Edens & Avant, a shopping center operator and developer. and began a sixty-year career practicing law. He decided not to charge hourly fees, instead billing according to the help offered. == Personal life ==

Byrum donated over $120 million to Wake Forest University, all as scholarships. In 1994, he leased of land near Huntersville, North Carolina, for the inaugural Carolina Renaissance Festival. == Death ==

Byrum died in 2017, aged 96. and stepmother, Helen, who died in 1982. ==References==