Thomas Joseph Byrne, a retired chief petty officer with the United States Navy, died of heart failure on May 8 at home in Springs. He was 86.
God, family, and country were driving forces throughout his life.
Born on May 3, 1936, in Manhattan’s Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood to Catherine and Thomas Byrne Sr., he lost his father at the age of 13 and took over the role of supporting his mother and protecting his younger brother.
At 17, he enlisted in the Navy, and when he was 21 he married Barbara Stewart, with whom he raised four children, Deborah, Tommy, William, and Kevin. A fifth child, John, died in infancy.
In the Navy Mr. Byrne rose to the rank of chief petty officer by the end of his 21 years of service, which took him around the country and the world. He was stationed in Sicily and served three tours in Vietnam with the Naval Construction Battalion, a.k.a. the Seabees, time that included going on convoys to supply Marines in heavy combat zones. He lost some very good friends there, and never forgot them, his family said. He was injured once himself and recuperated in Guam, only to return to Vietnam.
From 1954 to 1974, he served as chief cook and supplyman, and following his discharge he worked in various restaurants and at Southampton Hospital, where he oversaw the dietary department. He worked extra hours at night bartending and eventually retired from his final position as manager of the Water Mill Lumber yard in Montauk.
His wife died of cancer in 1998. At American Legion Post 419 in Amagansett, he met Carol Strong, who had also lost a spouse to cancer. The two were married on Sept. 2, 2000. Mr. Byrne welcomed her children, Noel and Paul Lane, and her stepchildren, Robin, Randy, Billy, and Tommy Strong, into his life, “always telling them that he did not believe in the word ‘step’ at all. They were his children,” she wrote.
In the years after Vietnam, Mr. Byrne had cancer himself from his exposure to Agent Orange. He also had chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Mr. Byrne was a commander at the American Legion and also at the V.F.W.’s Everit Albert Herter Post 550 in East Hampton. He ushered at Most Holy Trinity Catholic Church here.
“He always enjoyed writing inspirational letters to the grandchildren” and was a frequent letter writer to The East Hampton Star, his wife said. “His greatest joy was being with and seeing the grandchildren and great-grandchildren.”
Together, he and his second wife shared 10 children, 21 grandchildren, and soon eight great-grandchildren. “He loved them all,” she said.
His health began to decline following a fall and hospitalization at Stony Brook Southampton Hospital, where he contracted pneumonia and sepsis. He died at home under hospice care.
In addition to his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, he is survived by his brother, Robert Byrne of Florida, and by two nieces, two cousins, and their children.
A Mass was said on May 11 at Most Holy Trinity, followed by burial at the church cemetery on Cedar Street.
Donations in Mr. Byrne’s name have been suggested to the Disabled Veterans of America at dav.org, the Padre Pio Foundation of America at padrepio.com, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital at stjude.org, or the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals at aspca.org.
