William 'Bill' Byrd

WILLAM ALLAN "BILL" BYRD

Asbury

William Allan "Bill" Byrd, 67, of Asbury, died Saturday, Oct. 5, 2019, surrounded by family following a short illness.

Bill was born July 23, 1952, the oldest of five children, to Ivan and Katherine Schmuecker Byrd in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

He was attending Regis High School when he met his future wife, then Sherry Ewen,

of nearby John F. Kennedy High School.

Bill and Sherry got married in 1974, after graduating from Iowa State University (Sherry's father having stubbornly withheld his blessing until her graduation). Bill received a degree in psychology and pursued a Ph.D. in developmental psychology at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., but would eventually change fields, graduating from Michigan State University in 1980 with a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering. Together, Bill and Sherry (and, along the way, son Michael) lived in Illinois, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Wisconsin and again in Iowa, where Bill worked for a number of engineering firms and was awarded five patents. Bill taught at Northern Iowa Community College in Peosta before retiring in 2015.

Survivors include his wife, Sherry; and son, Michael; as well as his brother, Joseph (Deborah) Byrd; and sisters, Barbara (Gary) Klawiter and Janice (Justin) See.

Bill was preceded in death by his parents, Ivan and Katherine; his sister, Mary Kay; and his brother, John.

Sherry is grateful for 45 loving years of marriage to Bill and their many adventures and misadventures (including sailing the butterfly at Rock Cut Lake near their home in Rockford, Ill.). Michael treasures memories fishing with his father in Minneapolis' Lake Harriet and misses his joyous, roaring laughter. A private family service will be held at a later date. Hoffmann Schneider & Kitchen Funeral Home and Cremation Service in Dubuque is in care of the arrangements.