Former police chief 'Bud' Byrne dies of lung cancer

Retired Police Chief William "Bud" Byrne died Monday afternoon at home, a victim of lung cancer he had been battling for almost a year, his wife, Laurel, said Tuesday.

Byrne, 78, never smoked, his wife said.

Byrne retired from the Police Department in 1999, at age 64, after 38 years as a police officer. From 2000 until 2011, he worked on the security detail for the federal court in Cedar Rapids.

Partial to coat and tie as chief and not the dark-blue Cedar Rapids police uniform, Byrne was appointed to head the department at a time when it had endured a two-year period of in-house, in-the-headlines upheaval in which an assortment of commanders took a turn as police chief. He was credited with restoring the peace.

In Byrne the city got a unique mix for a law-enforcement leader: He once wanted to be priest and attended mass daily as police chief. He was the first police officer in the department to have a college degree - in philosophy, nonetheless - when he joined in 1961. On the side, he coached women's softball. And at the time he became chief, his son, Bill, was in prison.

"Bill is my son and he will be my son forever," Byrne said at his retirement.

Byrne was at the helm of the Police Department when it moved into its new station in 1997 along the Cedar River on First Street SW and as the department made its initial move into the law-enforcement approach known as community policing. During his tenure as chief, he successfully lobbied the City Council to increase the number of sworn officers in the department, a number that increased from 167 to 200 in his nine years as chief.

Gary Hinzman, who served as police chief before Byrne and then became executive director of the Sixth Judicial District of Correctional Services, on Tuesday called Byrne "a compassionate gentleman" and "a police officer's chief."

"Bud started his tenure as police chief during a very turbulent time and continued to steer the department on course for many years past the date of his retirement," Hinzman said. " ... He served with honor throughout his career."

Mike Klappholz, who followed Byrne as chief and retired in March 2008, on Tuesday said Byrne was devoted to his family, his Catholic faith and the Police Department.

"Bud was always trying to move the department forward," Klappholz said. "He was well-liked and respected. I looked on him as somebody I learned a great deal from. He was a mentor to me and many others."