This description of Jeff Byers’ burial service was written by Mark Maslow:
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By no means take this as an official account of the days events. I thought I would share from my perspective for the folks that would have liked to attend but couldn’t.

Jeff arrived at Yak Farm around 1:30pm. His coffin was put into place and small private service was held by Carita for their dogs. All of the dogs were brought over and some of Jeff’s favorite clothing were placed in the coffin with him so that the dogs could say goodbye.
Also, Eliot the cat was brought over and given the chance to say goodbye. They all reacted in their own way and it was beautiful.

Carita then asked for some privacy for herself and those of us there continued with what tasks were necessary to prepare for the later service.

The location of the grave is in a field near some of the trees that Jeff and Carita had worked hard to save. It is in view of Jeff’s woodshop, one of his favorite places. Yak Farm Cemetery will soon be a sign along FM696. There are quite a few small cemeteries along that road.

A large tent was setup with chairs and a microphone and speakers were provided. A great many people attended the event and many brought their own camp chairs. Some estimates put the number near 200 people, but no official count was taken. A small table with a signature book was provided.

People were directed to the area behind the main house when they first arrived. This is where the tables were setup for folks who brought items for the potluck and generally a good place to mingle.

At about 4pm everyone was requested to move towards the grave site. Luminaries were setup to help folks follow the path to the field.

At first many of the chairs under the tent were not occupied, but once the families had been seated, it was requested that people who wanted to sit, should. There were not enough chairs for everyone, so many people stood.

MC Chris Mack was initially upstaged by Molly, Jeff and Carita’s oldest dog who wanted to be the first to speak, then he started by making a few announcements. He related a story about Jeff. He spoke about how Jeff’s life will continue to influence those of us who knew and had our lives touched by him. Surprisingly brief, Chris yielded the microphone to Jeff’s niece Amanda who shared stories of growing up with an Uncle Jeff and how she felt working for Texas Instruments as an operator, being so proud of her Uncle Jeff. Amanda was followed by Kim Dean who shared her story of meeting Jeff at UT and how he was always someone whom she could count on to help with problems. Jefe was her Lithography Handyman. Kim was followed by Jeff’s roommate during his undergraduate work who spoke about Jeff and Carita’s wedding and the start of Jeff’s (in)famous beer brewing career.
Finally, John Petersen spoke of all the trouble that he and Jeff would get into. I know that I could relate my own personal experiences with Jeff to all of the things that were said of him.

Flowers were provided and anyone who wanted, was encouraged to place a flower on the coffin. Their rooster, Stew, didn’t realize it was late afternoon, serenaded us with his crooning. Maybe it was a 21 cock-a-doodle salute. Afterwards everyone was requested to return to the main house while the undertaker/gravedigger folks handled Jeff’s final burial.

Kegs were tapped, food was opened, and everyone who could, mingled and shared stories about Jeff. The luminaries were moved so that they led a path to and alighted Jeff’s grave. Quite a few people poured some beer for Jeff, as we all knew he would’ve wanted to have some. It gets very dark, very early, in Big Sky Texas country, the luminaries were beautiful. A very clear night, many many stars were visible. A campfire was started and the stories didn’t stop until late in the evening.

Soon there will be a celebratory party for Jeff’s life at Yak Farm. I look forward to hearing more stories about the fantastic guy that was so advanced, he had to leave us early.

Sincerely,

Mark Maslow