George D. Byrne
George Dennis Byrne (91) died on September 29, 2024 after recently entering hospice care at Archwood Senior Living Center. He is survived by his loving wife of 21 years, Normandie Joan (Glazewski), his younger brother Terence Edward, three daughters: Elizabeth Mary (David) Hensley, Margaret Ann (Hugh) Mixon, Karen Frances (Orson) Wang, and four sons: Stephen Alphonsus, Michael Robert (Sharon), David George, and Mark John, as well as 11 grandchildren and two nephews. He is preceded in death by his son, Dennis William, and one grandson. Additionally, he is also survived by 6 stepchildren, 11 step-grandchildren, and numerous step-great-grandchildren.
Born June 15, 1933, to Dennis Alphonsus Byrne and Mary Maurine (Bricker) Byrne of Earlham, Iowa, he enjoyed a modest and active childhood, working in his parents’ grocery store, playing varsity football and tennis as well as trombone in the band. After high school, he attended Creighton University, graduating in 1955 with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and a commission as a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army Reserves.
After leaving Creighton University, he worked at White Sands Proving Ground, programming early computers to model complex mathematical simulations of atomic blast fallout. Additionally, in 1956, he served a stint of active duty for six months, training at Ft. Benning, GA, then serving with the First Infantry Division at Ft. Riley, KS. He ultimately completed his military service with the rank of Captain in the Army Reserves in the 1960s. After completing active duty in 1956, he pursued a career in the very young field of computers working at the Sandia National Labs in Albuquerque as a programmer. Eager to pursue this career path, in 1958 he began graduate studies at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa. George earned a master’s degree in mathematics in 1961 and a Doctorate in applied mathematics in 1963. It was also at Iowa State that he met his first wife Laura Joan Brindle, marrying in 1960.
Joining the faculty of the University of Pittsburgh in 1963 as an Assistant Professor, the family, now George, Laura, and two children, moved to Pittsburgh where they lived until 1980, and added six more children to the family. During a sabbatical from Pitt, he spent the summer of 1973 as a visiting scientist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and began a long-term collaboration with Alan C. Hindmarsh, developing mathematical software instrumental in solving ordinary differential equations numerically, forming the basis of code that is still in use throughout the world today. Leaving the University of Pittsburgh, the family moved to Westfield, New Jersey in 1980, as George continued his career at Exxon Research and Engineering Corporation where he remained until 1993.
The mid 1990’s were a time of many changes in his life, as he returned to teaching, first as a visiting professor at Southern Methodist University during the 1993-1994 academic year, and then at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago in the fall of 1994. The same year also saw his first marriage ending in divorce. Beginning as the head of the Computational Sciences Department in the fall of 1994, he retired from IIT in 1998 as Professor Emeritus. Additionally, he met Normandie at the Illinois Institute of Technology, and they were married in Lyons, WI, in 2003.
Over the span of his career, he taught mathematics, served as advisor to graduate students earning their doctorates, and published technical papers with applications in chemistry, chemical engineering, mathematical software and numerical methods for solving differential equations, as well as co-editing two books on numerical methods. Professionally, George was active in The Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM) and the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), and won the Computer and Systems Technology Division Award and a lifetime achievement award, the Computing Practice Award from the American Institute of Chemical Engineering (AIChE) both in 1990. He was also a lifetime member of the White Sands Pioneer Group for his significant contributions in the early years of computational science.
Over the years, George was active in Toastmasters, a senior class powerlifting champion, and a member of the Country Gentlemen Barbershop Chorus. He was an active and avid parishioner and scripture reader for many years at his parishes. Enjoying a long and active retirement, George and Normandie have enjoyed travel in their golden years, visiting Cuba, Rio de Janeiro during Carnival, Russia, Germany, Austria, and France, as well as wintering in Palm Springs, California in recent years. As lifelong educators, George and Normandie were proud to attend many of his grandchildren’s high school and college graduations. In his many years in Lyons, he was frequently seen walking his beloved dogs and visiting dog parks, with either Mia or Domino, and has said that he knew more dogs than people. He will be greatly missed by those who knew and loved him.