Robert Edward "Bob" Tyner

1926 - 2021

(News story) Robert Edward "Bob" Tyner, who as a partner at a prominent Toledo engineering firm helped design equipment that advanced major discoveries in subatomic particles, and who as a father and philanthropist brought support and compassion for those with autism, died March 13 in hospice care at ProMedica Flower Hospital. He was 94.

He had an aneurysm, said his daughter, Mary Jane Luck.

Mr. Tyner came to Toledo to start his engineering career at Owens-Illinois straight out of college soon after World War II. He would ultimately spend decades as one of Toledo and Ohio's most prominent engineers, being named Toledo Engineer of the Year by the Toledo Technical Society in 1975 and the Ohio Engineer of the Year by the Ohio Society of Professional Engineers in 1981.

Much of that work occurred after he left O-I and joined Palmer & Associates Consulting Engineers, a firm started by Delos M. Palmer, Sr., in 1945. Mr. Palmer was the dean of the University of Toledo college of engineering for two years, and Palmer Hall is named after him.

Mr. Tyner became a partner in 1963 with Mr. Palmer and his son, Delos Palmer, Jr. The company largely worked for clients in the automotive industry, but the work varied - as did its locations.

In the 1950s, University of Michigan physicist Donald A. Glaser developed a bubble chamber, a device in which electrically charged particles could be photographed using superheated liquid. The invention led to a number of discoveries, and Mr. Glaser was awarded the 1960 Nobel Prize in Physics for the bubble chamber.

According to Mr. Tyner's papers at the University of Toledo's Ward M. Canaday Center for Special Collections, University of Michigan professors contracted with Mr. Palmer's firm in the 1960s to design a scaled-up version of their creation. The original bubble chamber was too small for photographs usable by the scientific community, according to his papers, so they built one many times bigger, "which was a monumental amount of work."

"He did say it was a huge physical area they needed to work on it," said son David Tyner.

The bubble chamber was used at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratories near Chicago for decades before it was sent to the CERN facility in Switzerland. A spokesman for Argonne National Laboratories cited a 1997 book that said the first large-scale bubble chamber was built in 1959 at the Lawrence Radiation Lab in Berkeley, Calif.

"Others soon followed, including the one at Argonne, all of which contributed to the establishment and understanding of an enormous number of new entities in particle physics," the spokesman said.

Mr. Tyner argued the one he designed was the first viable, full-sized chamber. Either way, his work helped advance science.

"Since then, Robert Tyner imagines that plenty of changes have probably been made to this machine," according to biography in his records.

The job involved significant travel. Mr. Tyner was once commissioned by the United Nations for economic development work during the 1960s in Ghana, soon after its independence, his family said. He worked with bottling manufacturers to determine the most efficient way to operate after receiving faulty equipment, according to his children.

He helped create machinery during the 1970s to insulate natural-gas containers for Norwegian tanker ships, which drew heightened interest after the development of liquified natural gas shipping and the energy crisis. The insulation helped keep the gas in a liquid form.

Beginning in 1978, the firm designed the main frame to which the engine and body were bolted to build the HMV military transport vehicle, also known as the Humvee and later redeveloped as the civilian Hummer, according to a Blade obituary of Mr. Palmer. The company also made equipment for Owens Corning, Owens-Illinois, and Libbey Glass.

Not all their designs were winners. Mr. Tyner worked on the first design for a car antenna embedded in the windshield, a concept that didn't exactly receive rave reviews from customers, his children said.

"Dad had said the feedback was not the best," David Tyner said.

Mr. Palmer and Mr. Tyner sold the firm in 1987. In retirement he took up glass art and practiced the craft for decades, shifting his focus from drafting glass designs to sculpting with hands and tools. He was also a skilled draftsman.

Born May 15, 1926, in Indianapolis to Earl and Hilda Tyner, Mr. Tyner was raised in Peru, Ind., and later Detroit. He attended the University of Michigan through the Navy ROTC program and received an engineering degree in 1947 and an ensign commission.

He was hired at Owens-Illinois in Toledo soon thereafter to work on television-tube technology.

"Everything was new, everything worked really fast, they worked long hours, but it was exciting," Ms. Luck said her father told her.

It was at O-I that he met Suzanne Smith, whom he would marry July 2, 1949. The couple had three children. Mrs. Tyner died in June, 2017, at age 94.

One of their sons has autism, although a proper diagnosis took years to find. Attempting to find answers on how to understand and support his son - when there were few formal supports out there - "completely transformed him into a better person, elevating qualities such as patience, tolerance, and perspective to extraordinary levels," the family said.

Mr. and Mrs. Tyner created the Great Lakes Collaborative for Autism in 2004. The charity, now known as Avenues for Autism, provides funding and advocacy for the autism community. The Suzanne Tyner Autism Fund through the charity helps pay for autism services not normally covered by insurance.

Those services are costly but "are life changing," said Ms. Luck, who is on the board of directors.

"Bob was an amazing man whose passion was to help individuals with autism live without limits," Avenue for Autism said on social media. "We will forever be grateful for the legacy he and his wife, Suzy, created, and are humbled to carry his legacy on for generations to come."

Mr. Tyner is survived by his sons, Jeffrey and David Tyner, daughter, Mary Jane Luck, and four grandchildren.

A memorial will be held at a later date because of coronavirus precautions. The Walker Funeral Home, Sylvania Township, is handling arrangements.

The family suggests tributes to Avenues for Autism, www.avenuesforautism.org or 2105 Lawrence Ave., Suite 232, Toledo, OH 43606.