Francis "Frank" Lyons

Frank Lyons, 93 years, of Barrington, Il, passed away on December 2, 2023, after a long and fulfilling life.

A visitation and mass of Christian burial will be at a future date at St. Pius X in Rock Island, IL. Memorials may be made to St. Pius X in Rock Island or the Rita Rose Lyons Endowed Scholarship at St. John’s University, Collegeville, MN.

Frank was born on April 8, 1930 on a farm in Yankton County South Dakota, the son of William and Mary (Donohoe) Lyons.

Frank graduated from the South Dakota School of Mines in Rapid City, SD where he earned a degree in Mechanical Engineering. After graduation he worked at the Fairbanks Morse Co. in Beloit WI before being drafted into the U.S. Army. He served as an engineer at the U.S. Army Chemical Center near Baltimore, MD After discharge from the Army, Frank worked for the John Deere Company for 31 years in Rock Island and Heidelberg, Germany. Frank worked for Deere on projects around the world planning and constructing factories and foundries. He retired in 1986. He then founded Emerald Associates, Inc., a manufacturing consulting company.

After a successful decade of running the company he sold it in 1996. In retirement he remained active with many years of service volunteering at SCORE, a non-profit business consulting organization. Frank’s passion was writing and learning. He published several books and continued to read and learn the rest of his life. He also enjoyed restoring antique British cars. He was an extensive traveler and an enthusiastic conversationalist. Frank moved to The Garlands in Barrington, IL in 2020. In 1957 he married Rita Rose (Lerch) Lyons. They met at Deere where she was also employed.

After her untimely death in 1992 Frank married Jean Monier, who he had met during his time stationed in the Army in Baltimore. His greatest passions were his relationships with his immediate large Irish family and his many friends. A quote from one of his books summarizes his life well as written by the poet Yeats in Those Dancing Days are Gone - I carry the sun in a golden cup, The moon in a silver bag. Survivors include his daughter Kathleen (David) Tabak, Barrington, IL: son John (Meghan) Lyons, San Francisco, CA; and grandson Joe (Jamie) Tabak, Chicago, IL

Survivors also include brothers Dr, John Lyons, Yankton, SD; Thomas Lyons, San Antonio, TX; Robert Lyons, LaGrange, IL. He was preceded in death by his sister Susan (Lyons) Winckler; brother Patrick Lyons and brother Dr. Eugene Lyons