Posted on 11/29/2004 8:15:32 PM PST by paulat
Stephen Byrne (NOTE: MY EMPHASIS BELOW)
Stephen James BYRNE Steve, who lived in Edmonds, savored life. He has left us now, in a struggle to find peace, and we will miss him.
But we will remember that savoring of life, his love of sailing, biking, cross country skiing, diving, hiking. His love of an incredible mountain vista, how the leaves turned gold in the fall, a great bottle of wine and a wonderful meal with friends, a long ride around Lake Washington or up Washington Pass, completing the STP bike ride for the first time, and the second.
He loved his friends and family as well, and we loved him. More than anything in the world, Steve loved his daughters, Kelsey and Hayley. He was at every soccer game, every school performance, every important event in their lives. He taught them how to do all the things he loved - ride bicycles, go sea kayaking, ski, or simply find some good snow to play in. They read together, played games, went to movies, worked on school projects. He hiked halfway up Mount Rainier with them when they were very young, and all the way up on his own. He taught them by example to love the world, to be adventurous, and to be gentle. There is great tragedy in how his life ended, and theirs, but know that this was a loving, good man who did the best he could while struggling against an incomprehensible burden that none of those of us who loved him could have known.
He loved travel, and he had traveled far, from Nebraska to Asia, to the Middle East, to Europe. He traveled overland from Europe to northern Africa. He had lived abroad - in Pakistan and in France - and savored the knowledge of other cultures he gained from that experience. That was an important part of knowing Steve, knowing that he had been to just about any place in the world that might come up in conversation.
He was tolerant of other views, full of ideas, and a great conversationalist. He graduated from the University of Nebraska, and received a Masters Degree from Arizona State University. He taught at the University of Arizona before going to Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Berkeley, Calif. He lived in Pakistan in 1988-1990, where he worked for the U.S. Agency for International Development, assisting the Pakistani people build an energy infrastructure in their country. When he returned to Berkeley, he launched a career as a software developer specializing in energy conservation. He moved to Bainbridge Island in 1994 with his family.
Steve was preceded in death by his father, John J. Byrne in 1997. He is survived by his mother Lorene Byrne of Mesa, AZ; a brother Tom (Arlette) Byrne of Encinitas, CA; three sisters: Shannon Byrne (Bill) Brower of Harbor Springs, MI; Teri Byrne (Bill) Marx of Bellevue, NE; Mitzi Byrne (Jim) Zimmerman of Oak Hill, VA; and his good friend Rita Hibbard of Edmonds. He was a favorite uncle of Ashley, John and Andy Brower; Michelle and David Byrne; Aimee, Josh, Ryan and Joey Marx; and Kate, Sam and Layne Zimmerman.
Memorial Service, Friday, Dec. 3, 11:00 a.m., in the Chapel of Beck's Funeral Home, 405 - 5th Ave. S., Edmonds, 425-771-1234. In lieu of flowers memorials may be given to Cascade Bicycle Club, P.O. Box 15165, Seattle, WA 98115. Published in print from 11/28/2004 - 11/29/2004. Guest Book • Funeral home info • Flowers Gift Shop • Charities
That's what I've been saying for HOURS now...geez....
All I'm asking is that they use common sense and screen out MURDERERS....
Yep, sure looks like it. Getting tech support is gonna be a major hassle for his customers now. What an ass; he needs to burn for a few eternities.
I'm trying to agree with you...geez...
I think finding who exactly wrote the Obit would serve more purpose than who published it.
The original story regarding the murder suicide was printed with some facts.
The obituary was an obituary, even as disgusting as it was, and the author should be the target.
...geez...
I would put a smiley...but it's not appropriate with this topic....
Seattle Times was probably in seventh heaven: not only did they not have to take the heat for writing that crap, but they got paid to print what the editors were actually thinking.
The left coast mentality is insane.
Is it ok to hope anyone is in hell?
Have a good night!
I agree, the writer of the obit is one sick puppy. Upon further reflection, I think the writer is the person who should be receiving all this wrath, not the paper. Can anyone find out who wrote it? Maybe he/she should wake up with a thousand flames in his/her email box .... And the idea of investigating the writer is well taken also. They sound so very sympathetic, despite the circumstances ... could they indeed have been aware that something was afoot before the fact?
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1290919/posts
Thread continues at this link with the latest info...a Seattle Times columnist expresses sympathy for the killer.
As perhaps the final post to this thread - I E-Mailed the paper, expessing my outrage and revulsion AND THEY ACTUALLY RESPONDED. The following is what I sent:
The guy had a MA and lots of lefty credentials but could not find a job in lefty Berkley???? Hmmmmmm......
Thanks for passing on the letter, drt1...
In the dentist's waiting room on Bainbridge Island today, I chatted with a mother and her young daughter who had known the murdered children. Everyone here is appalled, of course and all we can say is WHY?
This is a special, woodsy, and ostensibly safe place to live, but loaded with liberals, some quite well off. I wonder whether masking rage until passive-aggressiveness spirals out of control is a liberal trademark. I'm particularly struck by the way Dawson murdered his girls, not a mark on them. He obviously didn't want to hurt them. Just to kill them softly. And so methodically, coldly, with incredible malice aforethought.
Come to think of it, I know a fellow here who bears a close resemblance to Dawson, not just in looks but in life story. "Nice" fellah, but I wouldn't trust him to babysit with my pets. Yes, the subject did come up.
This is one of the most horrible stories I have seen recently. We will never quite understand what happened in the killer's mind, and we can never ask him. It is somewhat odd that he did not write more on his reasons, because even simple suicides usually do that.
Someone can investigate who placed that obituary. It indicates a truly bizarre frame of mind. How can someone get all sentimental about what a great guy this obviously deranged man was? Is the entire family possessed?
It is unbelievable that the mother of the murdered girls would approve the obituary for their killer, without even a mention of her daughters.
I am one of the least paranoid people on earth, but if I were the coroner, I would want to know everything about this case. I would have the emails traced, seize the computer, do lab tests on everything, and find out what sort of poison was used on the girls. I would want to learn the whereabouts of every family member who could conceivably have played a role, including anyone involved with the obituary.
#113 is very observant. The apparent killer found a way to end the lives of the girls neatly, and probably painlessly. This suggests that he thought that once he himself was gone, they had no further reason for being. In other words, he thought of himself as the center of things.
This is the upshot of the nice, secular liberal: his god was himself.
Usually the family does it.
Thank you for tying up the ends of my thoughts so neatly. Yes, his god was himself. Of course the girls attended the large Montessori school here where they learn these things quite early.
Refusing the obit because it's not mean enough is nothing more than punishing the family for something the guy did.
Damn Seattle. Never any sun. Nuthin' but rain and coffee shops. The place is like some stinkin' dump Anchorage took! Course as an excellent father and role model (see my obit!) I had to kill the girls. I couldn't let them grow up and be free and loving people who would just end up in this eternally raining river of phlegm. What? So they could grow up depressed and and then kill themselves anyway??. Hell, I did'em a favor!
That's me, Stevie Byrne! All around great guy and psychotic! Truth be told, there's a lot more like me just waitin' to pull the trigger. We always take the ones we love with us. Thoughtful, huh?
...you know...I had an awful thought about how those two little angels in heaven would feel if they knew their daddy was burning in hell....
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