Email  Print

‘Ed’ C. Byerly

  Sonoma resident Edward “Ed” C. Byerly passed away peacefully at his home on June 25, 2012. He was 84.

  He was born in Banning, on April 16, 1928, the only son of Tom and Nellie Byerly. At an early age, his family moved to the Northern California town of Fortuna, where he spent his formative years nurturing his love of the outdoors while hiking, camping and fishing in the redwood forests of the area.

  During World War II, his family relocated to San Francisco, where he attended Mission High School. After graduation, he worked as a firefighter for the California Forestry Service before being drafted into the United States Army in 1950. Returning to San Francisco, he met his wife, Ana Solar Byerly, on a blind date. They married in 1955.

  He retired in 1985, after spending 30 years as a technician for Pacific Telephone Company and AT&T and was a life member of the Telephone Pioneers of America.

  A lifelong train enthusiast, he was a patron of the Nevada and California state railroad museums, and often recalled that one of his earliest memories was watching a large steam engine pass by his family home in Banning. Drawing on his childhood love of model making and his skills as a craftsman, Ed enjoyed building scale model railroads in his backyard.

  In addition to his wife, Ana, he is survived by his sons and daughters-in-law, Steve and Deborah Byerly; Dan and Leslie Byerly, both of Petaluma; and Tom and Lynn Byerly, of Elk Grove. Ed is also survived by his four grandchildren, Taslynn and Chris Byerly, of Petaluma, and Alyssa and Jason Byerly, of Elk Grove.

  The family requests that anyone wishing to celebrate Ed’s life do so by making a donation to Trees for a Change for the planting of a tree in a U.S. National Forest as a living remembrance. (www.treesforachange.com)

  Private inurnment.

Duggan’s Mission Chapel

Mission Cremation Service

525 West Napa Street,

 Sonoma, CA.

707-996-3655