David L. Byrn

1934 - 2018

David L. Byrn

Prescott - David L. Byrn, 84, an Arizona native and longtime Prescott resident, passed away on April 20, 2018. David was born on January 4, 1934 at the old St. Joseph's hospital in downtown Phoenix. His parents were Charles Newman and Naomi Byrn. Until his death in 1967, his father was the owner of the well-known restaurant and tavern, "Casey's Lunch" located on East 7th and Washington Streets in Phoenix.

David attended McKinley and Monroe Elementary Schools and Phoenix Union High School, graduating in 1951 as a member of the National Honor Society, ranking 17th in his class of over 600 students. He participated in track and field activities, specializing in the hurdles and middle distance. While at Phoenix Union, he also wrote his first competitive poem in 1951 which was honored for excellence by the National High School Poetry Association. The following two years while enrolled at Phoenix College, David was a member of that school's football squad and earned school letters in track and field events, setting school records in the mile and two-mile runs. Later in 1953-1955, David continued his academic progress at ASU (then known as ASC of Tempe) but no longer pursued his athletic career.

David and Mary Ellen Swanson were married in December of 1953 and became parents of Debra Byrn, the first of four children in June, 1955. David also graduated in 1955 from ASU with a Bachelors Degree in Elementary Education and with a High Distinction ranking on his diploma. He immediately signed a teaching contract with the Washington School District No.6 in Phoenix where he was employed for the next 34 years in various teaching and administrative positions.

In 1958 he was offered the part-time job as official NCAA offensive statistician for the Sun Devils football team by his best friend and colleague, Dr. Jerry Olson. This was a position he held for more than a decade including working the annual Fiesta Bowl game. Again in 1968, he agreed to work as the 24 second shot timekeeper for the NBA's new Phoenix Suns basketball franchise. This job also lasted for more than a decade of professional sports activity.

Meanwhile in his professional education career, David continuously progressed up through the ranks from teacher to assistant principal, Principal of Royal Palm School in 1959, then to Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Educational Services in 1973. Again in 1981 as Principal of Sweetwater School until just before his retirement in 1989, he was promoted to Director of Personnel for the largest elementary district in Arizona. During this 34 year span, David spent a year as president of Arizona School Administrators and was presented a special award by the National Association of School Administrators. His retirement, however, did not end his active involvement with elementary age children.

Upon retirement, Mr. Byrn began working as a consulting Artist-in-Residence for poetry writing, conducting large group assemblies and classroom instruction in poetry writing techniques and methods. In the nine years from 1991-1999, hundreds of students in grades K-8 benefited from his creative writing experience. The students looked forward to and greatly enjoyed these presentations. His humorous and active role-playing and tutorial assemblies involved over 500 total hours in 190+ schools. Most of the participating schools were in Phoenix (Washington Elementary, Phoenix No. 1, Tempe, Mesa, Glendale, Peoria and Deer Valley school districts) plus all the Prescott public schools and many schools in Albuquerque, New Mexico).

Earlier in 1985, Mr. Byrn had become a dedicated member of the Arizona and National Poetry Societies and a regular participant in the poetry promotional, educational, conference and competition activities of both groups. He has written and published ten volumes of poetry. His most popular books were the three for elementary school children. Their titles are "The Importance of Pickles", "Chocolate Soup", and "Who Sat On My Sandwich", each of which has been reprinted multiple times in hard cover and paperback editions. These three volumes can be found in school libraries wherever he performed his group assemblies and classroom instruction. Only one of his books for adults, "Voice of the Cahuama" detailing the Seri Indians of Sonora, Mexico and their unique craft of Ironwood carvings is still in print. In the 1980s, David was awarded a commendation by the Latin American club of Arizona.

Mr. Byrn has written hundreds of poems about Native Americans, nature, colors, the history of Mexican culture, travel and a very broad variety of personal experiences. Between the years of 1985 and the present, he has written approximately 1,700 poems and has been fortunate enough to have received awards for the majority of them. At the State level, he has won over 1,200 awards and likewise at the national competition levels, he has earned nearly 100 prizes and citations. In addition, he has read his poetry at many civic groups and for a celebratory program at Arcosanti. He and his wife, Diana Hart, have traveled extensively in recent years, providing an abundance of writing opportunities for him.

David is survived by his loving wife, Diana and his four children from a previous marriage: Debra in Prescott and Jerry, Richard and Gordon who live in Phoenix; also a host of nieces, nephews, grandchildren and great grandchildren.

One of the best ways to honor the work of this educator and poet is to assist your local school to identify students with writing talents and to encourage and promote life experiences with them that can translate into creative writing activities.

David's youngest granddaughter Nickole is now attending ASU's Walter Cronkite College of Journalism on a four-year scholarship. Her sister Jessika, a recent graduate of ASU has developed many architectural programs requiring upscale thinking. His only grandson Patrick John, a Fine Arts graduate of NAU, worked full-time at the Phoenix Children's Museum on a variety of creative projects. This museum was the former Monroe Elementary school from which David graduated in 1951.