As Sen. Robert C. Byrd was being laid to rest after a week of memorials, a niece eulogized him Tuesday as a person who suffered from dyslexia. The revelation surprised others in Byrd's family, who later said they had no knowledge that the West Virginia senator suffered from the learning disability.

The 92-year-old senator, who served in Congress longer than anyone else, received a 21-gun salute as he was buried in a suburban Washington cemetery near his wife of nearly 69 years, Erma.

The statement stunned those who had worked with Byrd over the years. Brief interviews with more than a dozen current and former Senate staffers turned up none who saw any indication that Byrd, the author of five books and a master of the complex appropriations process, ever struggled with his ability to read....