ROBERT PAUL LYONS III

1926 - 2015

Robert P. (Bob) Lyons, 88, Kansas City, Mo., died April 23, 2015, after a brief hospitalization. Memorial services will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, May 2, at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, 4041 Main St., Kansas City, 17 years to the day after the burial of his wife, Mary McClellan Lyons, in 1998. Bob was born Dec. 13, 1926, in Macon, Mo., the only child of Robert and Olga Lyons. After moving to Kansas City in his youth, Bob graduated from Southwest High in 1944 at the top of his class. He attended Yale College from 1944 to 1948, accelerating his schedule so that he could serve in the military. He graduated with great academic distinction, earning both Phi Beta Kappa and Magna Cum Laude honors. In the military, Bob served in the Counter-Intelligence Corps during parts of 1946-47. His intelligence work was carried out in post-war Germany. In 1948, Bob returned to Yale to attend its law school. He graduated in 1951 as a member of the Order of the Coif and an editor of the Yale Law Journal. Bob's deep admiration of Yale continued for the rest of his life. He served on many alumni committees of both Yale College and Yale Law School and was proud to have a scholarship fund established in his name (as well as Mary's, a graduate of the Yale Nursing School) to provide financial assistance to Yale students from the Kansas City area. Upon returning to Kansas City in 1951, Bob joined the law firm of Spencer, Fane, Britt and Browne, where he spent his entire working career of more than 40 years. He chaired the firm's business law group for most of his tenure, and served as the firm's managing partner for 11 years. He was listed in Best Lawyers in America in both the corporate and tax law categories. During his career and after, he served as a director of numerous corporate boards. Bob also served on the boards of (or in leadership capacities with) a diverse set of civic and not-for- profit organizations. Most notably, he served with: the Metropolitan Community Colleges (Board Chairman); Advisory Committee, Missouri State Council on the Arts (Chairman); Young Audiences (Chairman, Kansas City Chapter, and Director, National Board); Friends of Chamber Music (Board Chairman); National Conference of Christians and Jews (Chairman, Kansas City Region); Capital Improvements Commission of Kansas City (Secretary); and People for Public Accommodations (Co-Chairman). Bob was also proud of his involvement in politics, having directed the John F. Kennedy presidential campaign in western Missouri (including Kansas City) and managed the successful Kansas City mayoral campaigns of Ilus W. Davis. Bob's life was a life of the mind, and his commanding intellect and grasp of both detail and nuance were things to behold. Later in life, he considered himself very lucky, though admittedly unusual, to have lived in one city and in one house, to have worked in one career, and to have enjoyed one joyous marriage, for almost his entire adult life. By training and temperament, he believed deeply in excellence, serious scholarship and equal opportunity. He broadened himself with adventurous travel, he found great inspiration and pleasure in the arts (particularly chamber music) and he never lost sight of the central place of family in his accomplished professional life. He is predeceased by his wife of 47 years, Mary. He is survived by his eldest daughter, Mary Demeter (Demie) Lyons and her husband Keith Gross of Weston, Mass., and their daughter, Jessilee; his daughter, Ann Lyons and her husband Jacques Rutschmann of San Francisco, Calif.; his son, William (Bill) Lyons and his wife Peggy of Mission Hills, Kan., and their son, David; and his daughter, Barbara Pickel and her husband Bob of Chappaqua, NY, and their children, Chris, Laura and Molly. He is also survived by his friend and cousin, Ed Milbank of Chillicothe, Mo. The family wishes to thank Bob's kind, patient and loving caregivers, Terri Robinson and Rhonda Young. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests contributions to Kansas City Young Audiences, Friends of Chamber Music, or Yale University - the Robert and Mary Lyons Family Scholarship Fund. M