April 6, 1945 - October 21, 2021
Myles O’Byrne passed away peacefully at his home in Seattle, Washington on October 21, 2021 following a short but valiant battle with cancer.
Everyone knew Myles for his dry wit, sense of humor, and love of storytelling. A proud Irishman, most people don’t know that he was actually born in England (his mother was a nurse there during WWII)! Maybe that’s why he was so good at telling “British” jokes - which were really only funny because of his antics. Myles arrived in Ireland as a toddler with a little British accent, much to the chagrin of his family. He assimilated quickly, however, growing up in Dublin and Donard, Co. Wicklow.
The first in his family to attend university, Myles studied engineering at University College Dublin and after graduation took an uninspiring job with the ESB (Electricity Supply Board). When Boeing came to Dublin recruiting young engineers, he jumped at the chance to work for the aerospace giant. In 1967, he moved to Seattle, Washington (USA). While working full-time, he obtained his master’s degree in electrical engineering, fully paid for by Boeing (those were the days!). Myles worked for over 40 years at Boeing, surviving several economic downturns including the great layoff of 1969 (billboards in Seattle said, “Last one leaving, please turn out the lights”). He was very proud of his career at Boeing.
Shortly after arriving in Seattle, Myles sent a plane ticket to a beautiful young lass who he had met at a pub in Ballybunion, Ireland. Joan came out for a visit, and stayed! The plane ticket is still pinned to the wall in his office. They were married in 1968 at Our Lady of Guadalupe, and enjoyed a wonderful 53 years together. He loved the outdoors, exploring and traveling. There were years of camping as a family in the local Olympic and Cascade mountains, annual trips to Sun Lakes with a crazy crew of English, Scottish, and Irish friends, epic road trips through the American Southwest, and several trips back home to Ireland. He especially loved traveling with Joan - their explorations together took them to Alaska, China, New Zealand, through the Panama Canal, and several countries in Europe.
Myles had a fantastic sense of humor, and was known as a bit of a prankster at Boeing. One of our favorites involved a co-worker who had “hello, how are you” signs in various languages all over his cubicle. Myles offered to give him one in Irish. The sign read, “pog mo hone”. Readers, we will let you look that one up! He also loved storytelling, and spent hours writing funny (and true) short stories about his childhood and family back in Ireland.
Myles had a very full 76 years of life. Everyone who knew him is thankful to have been part of his world. He is survived by his wife, Joan, their two children Michael and Kathleen, and five grandchildren. Michael and his family (wife Bhavesha, children Indira and “young” Myles) live in Seattle. Kathleen and her family (husband Todd, children Molly, Keira, and Conor) live in San Francisco.
We will not be holding a service at this time, in hopes of having a wake in Seattle next summer when the weather is nice and we can safely celebrate together. Our immediate family will also travel to Ireland next summer with Myles’ ashes, where he wanted them to be buried with his parents in Hollywood, Co. Wicklow. And of course we will have another wake in Donard!
In lieu of flowers or other remembrances, consider making a donation to the Evergreen Health Foundation*, whose at-home hospice services were invaluable. Information can be found below. Alternatively, do something that you know he would enjoy! Plant some potatoes, have a pint, or play a round of golf in his honor - send us a picture.
We would also like to thank St. Anne’s Hospital and Virginia Mason Medical Center for their care. Every single service, staff, and medical team member who Myles and our family encountered was incredible, and the collaboration between the medical personnel was superior. We are forever grateful for their service.
Please enjoy some memories written by his grandchildren, shown below. We would also love your own comments and stories!
With love,
Joan, Kathleen, Michael, Todd, Bhavesha, Indira, Molly, “young” Myles, Keira, Conor and the canine grandchildren Rocky IV and Lilly
*Memorial gifts can be made to the EvergreenHealth Foundation, 12040 NE 128th St, MS 5, Kirkland, WA, 98034-3013, USA or by clicking on this link: https://evergreenhealthfoundation.com/donate/ . Please designate “hospice services”.
Stories from his grandchildren:
I remember when Papa came to stay with us for a week while our parents were gone. He had to drive us to school and every time we drove down this one hill near our house he would ignore the speed bumps and the entire car would bounce up and down. And every time he would be like “where did that come from” and laugh and we would all laugh and it continued to happen everyday. Now every time we go down that hill I remember those moments and it makes me laugh.
We had some old potatoes in the pantry that had started growing little sprouts. We were going to throw them out, but Papa decided to plant them instead. He showed us how to dig the holes and plant them, and we worked together in the garden for a bit. It was fun. I was pretty skeptical, but a few weeks later we ended up with a bunch of nice plants and some tasty (and big!) potatoes.
I remember when Papa would come visit us in San Francisco he would always take me on a walk to West Portal to get ice cream. My parents did the same but it was special with Papa because he would always let me get the biggest scoops on the chocolate covered waffle cones. I was so little I could barely eat half of it but I was so excited and so happy to get it so he always let me. Now every time I walk past the building where the ice cream shop used to be I remember those walks and the fun times I had with Papa there.
I remember the time when a bird landed on Papa’s head. It was trying to make his hair a nest, but there wasn’t enough (hair). Aunty Bhavesha was like “protect the bird!” and Papa was like “get it off!”. Nobody knew what to do and it was really funny.
I remember way back when I was little Papa came to visit and take care of us while mom was giving birth to Conor. And one morning we came downstairs all dressed for the day with our backpacks ready for school and Papa was sitting on the couch watching TV. We told him we were ready to go to school but he told us we did not have school (even though we did). Instead he let us skip the day and watch cartoons. I will always remember how excited I was in that moment and how happy I felt to be staying home with my grandpa instead of going to school.
I remember all the times we went to the Boeing museum and he would tell us about the airplanes. We had so much fun there, and Papa was always telling us about his time working at Boeing. The story that stands out to me was the one about the guy who made the Star Trek “no intelligent life” joke in meetings. That always made Papa laugh his funny little chuckle-laugh.
Papa’s favorite ice cream was Nestle Dibs. For months there would be half-eaten tubs of Dibs in the freezer, then our local Thriftway (a grocery store) stopped selling them. I remember that Papa even went down there to complain! Luckily we found them at McLendon’s (a hardware store) in White Center. So any time we went there, we would grab a couple of tubs of Dibs for Papa. And even though it was his coveted treat, he was always willing to share.
A great memory I have of Papa is him scaring me with his radiation mask. My dad and I had to go pick up Baba and Papa from the hospital as it wasn’t ideal for them to drive. Dad told me to wait in the car while he got them, and I obliged. I was on my phone playing games when all of a sudden someone knocked on the window. I looked up to see Papa wearing a mask that you would see on a horror movie character and not on my 76-year-old grandpa. My heart skipped a beat as I was startled by him and then I realized it was my grandpa and not some crazy chainsaw wielding murderer.