Sad. Very sad that he is seen as a good man, and his life was a struggle. I bet theirs were too, being killed and all.
Patriot Paradox
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
Given my admittedly limited exposure to Seattle ... yes.
This is one SICK family, in denial and unable or unwilling to acknowledge the skeletons in their closet. One wonders whether prayer for the family--or Freeper/ProtestWarrior picketing the funeral--would be the higher road. Perhaps both. /sad
Sad. Very sad that he is seen as a good man, and his life was a struggle. I bet theirs were too, being killed and all.
He murders his children because he's a deadbeat who can't pay his child support and it's not even mentioned?
This has to be some kind of joke, right?
This is from the same state that jeered one of our servicemen in a parade about 2 months ago..............I can't shake my head enough to compensate for such moral depravity.
This obit is in incredibly poor taste. The paper does have the power to refuse to print paid items, including obits. I hope they receive a thousand angry emails about this.
Prayer of course.
Only Fred Phelps of godhatesfags.com pickets funerals.
"Entries are free and are posted after being reviewed for appropriate content. "
I would imagine that saying something like "Child killers like this should not be remembered fondly in death as this obit suggests but instantly forgotten, and all documents bearing their names and all of their life's works should be excised from this Earth. The Times and it's Leftist clone the P.I. both need to be burned to the ground for being the shameless and obvious mouthpieces of the Democrats while pretending to bring us objective news." would be regarded as "inappropriate content"
And I think the family PAYS for the obit.
More than anything in the world, I love the reporters of the Seattle Times. Where's my shotgun?
Under your bed.........and a case of slugs.
I appreciate your point about the tone of the obit under the circumstances..... but those obits are placed and paid for by the family, not written or edited by the paper.
If I lived closer..........I'd be inserting my clip into my semi-auto shotgun.
"More child custody fallout. The guy didn't want his wife to move, so he made sure she wouldn't take his daughters away from him."
There are other issues hinted at besides just the move away issue that probably contributed to this tragedy.
Look again at the line on the child support. He was probably faced with an excessive child support amount while he was unemployed.
Look also at the line indicating that they had attached his property to collect that money. While federal law prevents excessive garnishment, the current child support laws allow that to be bypassed by seizing the persons property directly. What did they leave him to live on?
They are so precious, pictures say a thousand words.
I agree. If I ever decide to kick, no matter what the circumstances, I will go alone. Why in the heck would I want to drag innocents along? What sordid, unspeakable people.
We can't deny, however, couldn't they have reprinted the facts with the obit? Or in the OpEd? Something, anything, but unchallenged?
They don't fact-check every obit to see if the deceased was as nice as the family always says. It's a paid obituary, not a new story.
What do you expect from the Seattle Times, or for that matter, any mainstream media newspaper?
"It's been enormously shocking," said Rita Hibbard, a close friend of Byrne's. "Steve was a wonderful person who loved his daughters."
I would beg to differ with her on two points:
1. He was a wonderful person.
To me, a wonderful person does not murder his children.
Thah she thinks he is a wonderful person says a lot about her character.
Why? Because we usually tend to admire and draw near to those who have our values and think as we do.
2. He loved his daughters.
Again we disagree. I have a hard time being convinced that one murders those one loves.
But that is just my $ 0.02 cents worth.
Now mom has nothing.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.