Thomas R. Dyer died peacefully in Seattle on January 21, 2026. He was 86 years old.
Born in Astoria, Oregon in 1939, Tom worked as a shipwright, machinist, rigger and painter on wooden and steel ships in his father’s shipyard while still a teenager. He would go on to spend his entire life designing, repairing, maintaining, fiddling with and enjoying boats of all kinds.
After a year at his beloved Astoria High, Tom graduated from the Choate School and then attended Stanford University, earning a BS in Mechanical Engineering; the Technical University in Delft, Holland as a Fulbright Scholar; and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, receiving an MS in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering. He then served four years in the Navy as an Officer-Instructor at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, where he taught marine engineering and ship stability and managed the design of a 380-foot ship model towing tank.
After Annapolis, Tom and his wife Susan Moran Dyer settled in Seattle, where they raised their three children, Kate, Joe and Ben. Tom was an active and enthusiastic member of the Seattle maritime community for over fifty years, serving as New Construction Manager at Marco Shipyard, General Manager of Foss Shipyard, President of Union Bay Shipbuilding, and as a consulting engineer and expert witness at Headway Marine. Tom was a founding member of the Seattle Marine Business Coalition (SMBC) and served on both the Port of Seattle Waterfront Development Panel and the Seattle City Planning Commission. He was a member of many maritime organizations, including the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers; the Columbia River Maritime Museum; the Youth Maritime Training Association Advisory Board; and the Center for Wooden Boats.
In 1987, after an amicable split from Susan, Tom married Lise Kenworthy, a fellow member of the SMBC Board. After Lise’s death in 2013, he had the great good fortune to reconnect with (and later marry) Sallie Reynolds, an engineering and sales manager with whom he had worked at Foss Shipyard. Tom and Sallie enjoyed over a decade of wonderful years together, often keeping track of local boats from the deck at their Shilshole home.
Tom was predeceased by Lise, and by his son Joe in 2016. He is survived by Sallie; his children Kate Dyer and her wife Ellen Fey of San Francisco and Ben Dyer and his wife Heather Healy Dyer, of Seaview, Washington; his stepson Samuel Adatto and his wife Roberta Giubilini of Seattle; his grandson Ben Dyer, a student at Northeastern University in Boston; and many longstanding and devoted friends who will miss his ready laugh, his easy friendship and his long and winding – but always interesting – stories.
Tom always said he wanted to end his days as “an old fart on the waterfront.” Well, congratulations Tom, Dad, Grandpa – you made it.
Donations to the Columbia River Maritime Museum, in honor of Tom, would be most welcome.
Born in Astoria, Oregon in 1939, Tom worked as a shipwright, machinist, rigger and painter on wooden and steel ships in his father’s shipyard while still a teenager. He would go on to spend his entire life designing, repairing, maintaining, fiddling with and enjoying boats of all kinds.
After a year at his beloved Astoria High, Tom graduated from the Choate School and then attended Stanford University, earning a BS in Mechanical Engineering; the Technical University in Delft, Holland as a Fulbright Scholar; and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, receiving an MS in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering. He then served four years in the Navy as an Officer-Instructor at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, where he taught marine engineering and ship stability and managed the design of a 380-foot ship model towing tank.
After Annapolis, Tom and his wife Susan Moran Dyer settled in Seattle, where they raised their three children, Kate, Joe and Ben. Tom was an active and enthusiastic member of the Seattle maritime community for over fifty years, serving as New Construction Manager at Marco Shipyard, General Manager of Foss Shipyard, President of Union Bay Shipbuilding, and as a consulting engineer and expert witness at Headway Marine. Tom was a founding member of the Seattle Marine Business Coalition (SMBC) and served on both the Port of Seattle Waterfront Development Panel and the Seattle City Planning Commission. He was a member of many maritime organizations, including the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers; the Columbia River Maritime Museum; the Youth Maritime Training Association Advisory Board; and the Center for Wooden Boats.
In 1987, after an amicable split from Susan, Tom married Lise Kenworthy, a fellow member of the SMBC Board. After Lise’s death in 2013, he had the great good fortune to reconnect with (and later marry) Sallie Reynolds, an engineering and sales manager with whom he had worked at Foss Shipyard. Tom and Sallie enjoyed over a decade of wonderful years together, often keeping track of local boats from the deck at their Shilshole home.
Tom was predeceased by Lise, and by his son Joe in 2016. He is survived by Sallie; his children Kate Dyer and her wife Ellen Fey of San Francisco and Ben Dyer and his wife Heather Healy Dyer, of Seaview, Washington; his stepson Samuel Adatto and his wife Roberta Giubilini of Seattle; his grandson Ben Dyer, a student at Northeastern University in Boston; and many longstanding and devoted friends who will miss his ready laugh, his easy friendship and his long and winding – but always interesting – stories.
Tom always said he wanted to end his days as “an old fart on the waterfront.” Well, congratulations Tom, Dad, Grandpa – you made it.
Donations to the Columbia River Maritime Museum, in honor of Tom, would be most welcome.
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