Ervin “Bud” F. Lyon, 76, of Kensington, formerly of Lexington, MA, died Sunday, February 19, 2012, at his home surrounded by loving family.
Bud was born September 13, 1935, in San Antonio, TX, the son of the late Dr. Ervin F. and Beatrice “Betty” (Fiser) Lyon, Jr. He was raised in San Antonio and was a 1953 graduate of Thomas Jefferson High School. Bud entered Texas A&M University in 1953 where he was a member of the Army ROTC Program and was elected to the Phi Eta Sigma, Phi Beta Kappa and Tau Beta Pi scholastic honor societies. In 1954, he married the love of his life and high school sweetheart, Thelma Faye (Yeager) Lyon in San Antonio. Although both were full-time college students and renting an off-campus apartment, the couple not only maintained high academic standards but also managed the Aggieland Inn in College Station, TX.
Upon graduation from Texas A&M, Bud was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant with the United States Army Signal Corps. With his active duty assignment deferred, he and Thelma moved to Massachusetts where he entered the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). While at MIT, Bud was appointed as a staff associate and earned his Master of Science degree in Electrical Engineering in 1959. After graduation, he was appointed to the MIT Lincoln Laboratory staff, a position he accepted and held until 1961 when he entered into active duty with the Army. He was released from active duty to return to MIT graduate school and in 1966 was awarded a Ph.D in Electrical Engineering. After receiving an honorable discharge from the Army, Bud was appointed as a visiting professor at the Instituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare at the University of Rome. He and Thelma lived in Rome and traveled throughout Europe before returning to Massachusetts where Bud joined the MIT Center for Space Research (CSR) staff. He and Thelma settled in Lexington, MA to raise their family. Bud’s love of flying blossomed and he earned his private pilot’s license at Hanscom Field.
In 1969, Bud consulted on a variety of software development projects for communications satellites and automated record-keeping for major businesses. He returned to MIT in 1973 where he served as a research staff member at the CSR and as Assistant Group Leader for Power Electronics.
Bud formed American Power Conversion Corporation (APCC) in 1981 for which he served as President and Chairman of the Board until 1985. While he continued at APCC in the capacity as a Director member of the Board, he returned to MIT Lincoln Lab until he retired in 1993. It was during this time that Bud purchased his first of many aircraft and completed his first solo helicopter flight.
The next phase of Bud and Thelma’s life emerged as Bud put his passion for automobiles into a new venture that began as BMW of Peabody with partners Warren Waugh, Bill Currie and Ken Fullerton. By 2004, the company had grown into the Lyon-Waugh Auto Group with multiple franchises and facilities including Land Rover Peabody, Acura of Peabody, BMW and MINI of Peabody, Porsche and Audi of Nashua and more recently MINI of Bedford in New Hampshire.
Bud was an electrical engineer, a research scientist, a teacher, an entrepreneur, a world-class car enthusiast and collector, a skilled fixed wing and rotary wing aviator and an exceptional photographer. He owned and operated multiple aircraft and cherished over 100 classic and exotic automobiles over his lifetime. Most importantly, Bud was a devoted and loving son, husband, father, grandfather and friend.
He is survived by Thelma, his beloved wife of over 57 years, his son Russell Lyon and his wife Tina, his daughter Kathleen “Katie” Lyon-Pingree and her husband Seth, his grandchildren, Julia, Matthew and Samuel Pingree and his sister Kathleen “Kate” Bearden.
He was predeceased by his older sister Pauline Titus.
ARRANGEMENTS: Calling hours will be on Monday, February 27, from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. at the Stockbridge Funeral Home, 141 Epping Rd., Exeter, NH. Services will be held on Tuesday, February 28, at 3:00 p.m. at the North Hampton United Church of Christ, 295 Atlantic Ave., North Hampton, NH. Burial will be in the Kensington Cemetery at a later date. Relatives and friends are respectfully invited. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Bud’s name to one of his favorite charities: Smile Train, PO Box 96231, Washington, D.C. 20090-6231, online at https://secure.smiletrain.org/site/Donation or Doctors Without Borders USA, P.O. Box 5030, Hagerstown, MD 21741-5030, online at www.doctorswithoutborders.org/donate/tribute or Heifer International, 1 World Avenue, Little Rock, AR/USA 72202, online at www.heifer.org or Habitat for Humanity International, 121 Habitat Street, Americus, GA 31709-3498, or online www.habitat.org/cd/giving/one/donate. An online guest book is available at www.StockbridgeFH.com.
