Bennett Dyke

1933 - 2017

December 23, 1933 - May 23, 2017
Bennett Dyke died May 23, 2017 at home, after waging a courageous battle with cancer for more than two years. He was born in Hartford, Connecticut to Alison Bennett Dyke and Kingsbury Dyke.
Dr. Dyke graduated from Trinity College in Connecticut in 1955 and received his Ph.D. in human genetics and anthropology from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor in 1968. Before starting graduate school, Bennett spent an adventurous two years in Anchorage, Alaska, supporting himself by working as an engineer and as the "farthest west classical disk jockey" in the U.S. and its territories.
It was at Michigan that he met his life partner Jean MacCluer. He was a faculty member at Bucknell University and then at Penn State University. In 1981 he and Jean left Penn State for San Antonio, Texas, where they had been offered faculty positions at the Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research (now the Texas Biomedical Research Institute). He and Jean had enjoyable and productive careers there, mentoring numerous young scientists who now have become successful senior investigators.
Bennett is survived by Jean, by his cousins, and by his many friends. He was predeceased by his parents and his brother, Peter Dyke. Bennett wished not to have a funeral. A memorial service will be held at a future time.
We wish to thank Christus hospice and Bennett's doctors and caregivers for providing Bennett with excellent care.
Throughout his life, Bennett was valued for his intelligence, his wit, and his generosity. We will miss him terribly.