Obituary: Byrd, Richard Bourne
BYRD,
Richard Bourne
Richard Bourne Byrd, 82, died on April 3rd, 2012 during a hiking accident while touring Cuba.
He was born on November 17, 1929 to Charley Lee and Elizabeth Byrd, in their farmhouse in Lentner, Missouri.
In these rural beginnings, he developed a lifelong passion for learning and a drive for excellence.
After eight years of education in a one room school house, he went on to graduate from high school in Shelbina, Missouri.
He then received his undergraduate degree from Central Methodist University in Fayette, Missouri.
He earned his medical degree from the St. Louis University School of Medicine in 1954, being in the top 10% of his class.
Dr. Byrd completed an internship at the St. Louis Children’s Hospital, his residency in Internal Medicine at the Mayo Clinic Graduate School of Medicine, University of Minnesota in Rochester, Minnesota and a few years later in Pulmonary disease at the same facility.
He belonged to the American College of Chest Physicians, American Thoracic Society, and American College of Physicians.
He was board certified in Internal Medicine and Pulmonary Disease.
He received many honors for his research in each.
He served for over 20 years as a physician in the United States Air Force, retiring as a Colonel in 1980.
He then joined the Pulmonary Medicine Department of the Rockwood Clinic in Spokane, where he continued to practice medicine and compassionately serve his patients until his death.
Dr. Byrd was a pulmonary disease specialist with a particular interest in asthma and served as a clinical associate professor at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle, WA.
He authored over 67 professional medical articles on lung disease.
In addition to his dedication to his patients, Dr. Byrd also had a passion for travel and adventure.
His explorations took him from the top of Mt.
Kilimanjaro and the base camp of Mt.
Everest to treks in such places as Nepal, India, and Bhutan.
He was active in the Spokane Canoe & Kayak Club and along with Laurie, was a veteran of wilderness river trips.
They paddled together off the Galapagos Islands and Greenland, canoed Alaska’s Noatak River into the Bering Sea, kayaked the Strait of Magellan in Chile and mastered 400 miles of whitewater in a canoe on the Nahanni River in Canada, among many other adventures.
Throughout the course of his journeys, all seven continents were reached.
A lifelong athlete, Dr. Byrd enjoyed badminton, racquetball, biking, running, and hiking.
He completed the Portland Marathon in 2009, just before he turned 80.
As a dedicated and loving father, he enjoyed sharing his passion for travel by leading his family on annual month long tent camping tours throughout the US and Europe during their earlier years.
He taught his children to appreciate and respect nature, culture, history, art and music.
He was preceded in death by his parents and his daughter, Linda.
He is survived by his wife of nearly 59 years, Laurie (Lauretta); his two sons, Robert and Dean, and their wives, Lynda and Jean; his granddaughter, Heather Zarn and her husband, John; as well as his younger brother John Frederick Byrd and his partner, Jack Poquette.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that contributions in memory of Dr. Richard Byrd be made to Central Methodist University, 411 Central Methodist Square, Fayette, MO 65248 , or to the St. Louis University School of Medicine, 221 N. Grand Blvd., DuBourg Hall, Room 319, St. Louis, MO 63103
A memorial service to celebrate the life of Dr. Byrd is planned for Friday, April 27, 2012 at 11:00 AM at Hamblen Park Presbyterian Church in Spokane.