MANSFIELD ALLEN "PRO" LYON

1930 - 2015

LYON, MANSFIELD ALLEN “PRO” Mansfield Allen “Pro” Lyon, 84, of Newport, died Friday afternoon, September 4th, at Newport Hospital. A Newport resident since 1971, Pro was an active and passionate member of the local educational, volunteer, social, and religious communities for more than five decades. The son of Mansfield A. Lyon, Sr. and Elizabeth Webster Lyon, Pro was born in Boston on Christmas Day in 1930 and raised in Wallingford, Connecticut. He was graduated from Westminster Preparatory School in 1949 and from Yale University in 1954. In 1956, he married Mary Alicia Breck, and the couple began their careers as teachers at St. Michael’s School in Newport. When they began, in Pro’s words, “making babies faster than pay raises,” Pro relocated his family to Wallingford, where he spent many years helping to build a family business, Bunting and Lyon, that published an independent secondary school guide. In 1971, Pro and his family returned to Newport to help rebuild and lead St. Michael’s School as Headmaster. In those lean years, Pro and Mary both served the school in many roles – as administrators, teachers, coaches, etc. – and eventually helped shepherd St. Michael’s from its church-owned status to its present day independence. Pro ultimately retired from a second career as an Aquidneck Island real estate agent in 2004, when he committed himself to volunteer service for many local organizations. Pro once described his sense of volunteerism as “an awareness that there will always be a person or persons who have less than we have in some aspect of life, be it health, possessions, or opportunities.” That attitude kept him in constant motion, teaming up with Mary over the last 15 years on various endeavors at the Edward King Senior Center; The Women’s Resource Center; the Martin Luther King food pantry; Newport Homeless Project; Island Moving Co.; the Newport Accessibility Advisory Committee; and as lector, tour guide and member of the Vestry and countless committees for Trinity Church. In 2006, Pro and Mary were honored as Newport Daily News Volunteers of the Year because of their tireless efforts on behalf of the community. Despite contracting polio at age 13, Pro’s life was never a sedentary one. He cherished spending time with his family and the diversity of interests they shared with him. He found great satisfaction in the water, spending many hours on the Connecticut River and Narragansett Bay sailing, boating, fishing and swimming. An accomplished singer, guitarist and storyteller, Pro always welcomed the chance to entertain. Theater enlivened him, both on and off the stage. He had a thirst for knowledge that he shared with great enthusiasm, wit and grace. Pro loved a room full of people, and he always got that love in return. Pro was preceded in death by his wife Mary in 2014 and his daughter, Reverend Susan Elizabeth Lyon in 1996. He is survived by his son, Tim Lyon and wife Deb of Baudette, MN; his daughter, Julie Borden and husband Tom of Newport; and his daughter, Meg Garruto and husband Paul of Weymouth, MA. In addition, he leaves behind his grandchildren Samantha and Alex Lyon, and Emily, Louisa and Marshall Borden. Following a private family gathering this week, a service in Pro’s memory will be held at Trinity Church in Newport at 11 am on Saturday, November 21st. In lieu of flowers, Pro’s family asks that contributions in his memory be made to the Susan E. Lyon Memorial Fund, c/o Fund Development, Hartford Hospital, 80 Seymour St., Hartford, CT 06102. Information and condolences available at www.memorialfuneralhome.com.