09/05/2025
Ed was born on November 20, 1938 in Queens, New York City, and grew up in a close and loving family. His grandparents lived downstairs, and his aunts, uncles and cousins all lived within walking, school and playing distance.
His family moved to New Jersey when Ed was a teenager and he graduated from high school in New Brunswick. He didn’t see himself as college bound, so he decided to follow his older brother into the military, in Ed’s case, the Navy. He was only 17, and his mother had to sign off on his enlistment; he wound up on a “kiddy cruise.” The four years were not difficult, as he spent them entirely in Hawaii…
After leaving the service, he graduated from Rutgers University and then Virginia Tech, where he earned a Ph.D in natural resource management/operations research; he was an engineer at heart. Ed never stopped wanting to learn, both formally and informally, and he returned to college after he retired, earning an MBA from the University of Wisconsin.
Ed Lyons was a man of many talents and interests. He found joy in learning, sharing what he learned, asking questions, and in challenging himself and others, both intellectually and athletically. He loved his family deeply, and they loved him.
His career spanned the forest industry and manufacturing. He was a strategic thinker, a problem solver, a professional and personal risk taker, and a leader. He believed in data based decision making and taking risks, and he believed in people. He always said he was most proud of mentoring and developing staff, and of putting in place systems that promoted the well-being of those individuals. After he retired, he and two friends formed a small private investor group, which he thoroughly enjoyed.
He was an excellent tennis player, frequently beating those who were many years younger. Nothing about tennis pleased him more than when his sons beat him. He would say he played for fun and was not competitive. Those he played with would roll their eyes. He was a rower (he built his own boat), kayaker, hiker, biker, golfer, and rollerblader/iceskater. The skating was to keep up with his sons. Unfortunately, Latin dancing was never his thing, despite the efforts of his wife.
He painted and drew, and tried his hand at woodcarving. He could repair almost anything and loved improvising to make things work, especially if it didn’t cost him anything.
He traveled widely, and he always was up for a new adventure. He loved an unplanned day of wandering, where getting lost was a highlight (he would say he was directionally impaired), especially if there was a new beer to be discovered at the end of the trail.
He would read several books at a time, and could keep track of all of them. He rarely gave up on a book, especially if recommended by a friend, even if it was boring. He took classes in physics, fungi, the environment, politics and astronomy. During the COVID break he wrote a 100+ page treatise entitled, The Dynamic Universe. He researched and wrote this astronomy treatise for younger people (really for the grandchildren) and to increase his own knowledge. Just as what is known about the universe is always expanding, so was his treatise. Those who read it learned a lot, and wondered how he was able to pull together so much information. For him it was a challenge, he was learning, and it was great fun.
For those who had the good fortune to talk about life with him, he frequently would quote John Greenleaf Whittier’s 1856 poem, Maude Miller — “For of all the sad things of tongue or pen, The saddest are these: ‘It might have been.’” He strove to live his life without regrets.
Most importantly, he was loving, kind, accepting, curious, supportive, smart, gently humorous, peaceful, adventuresome and brave. Above all, he loved his family, and they loved him. His life was well lived.
He is survived by his wife, Jean Sussman, his sons Daniel and Michael (Kelly), two wonderful grandchildren (Mackenzie and Connor Lyons), his brother William (Joan), and many nieces, nephews, cousins and friends. He was preceded in death by his parents, Naomi and Thomas Lyons, and his older brother Thomas Lyons.
Private memorials will be held in Chicago and New Jersey.
