Howard Wilson Lyon

HATCHL, LYON, SCANDRETT, WILSON

Posted By: Cindy (email)
Date: 12/2/2021 at 18:49:08

INDEPENDENCE – Howard Wilson Lyon, 97, of Gaithersburg, Maryland, passed away October 7, 2019, at Wilson Health Care Center of Asbury Methodist Village after an extended illness. A memorial service took place on Sunday, October 13, at Grace United Methodist Church of Gaithersburg with Rev. Jim Miller officiating.

Interment of ashes will take place at Wilson Cemetery in Independence, Iowa, at a future date.

Howard was born in Waterloo, Iowa, the son of Harold and Katherine Wilson Lyon. He was a 1940 graduate of Independence High School in Independence, Iowa.

During World War II, he served his country alongside his father as a Seabee in the U.S. Navy's 63rd Construction Battalion in the South Pacific. Upon discharge from military service, he attended Iowa State University on the G.I. bill, completing his bachelor's degree in civil engineering in 1948.

On Oct. 25, 1947, he married Opal June Scandrett in Independence, Iowa, where the two had met while taking classes at Independence Junior College prior to the war.

He began his engineering career following graduation, working first as a bridge engineer for the Iowa Highway Department, then at Deleuw Cather & Co. in Chicago, Illinois. In 1961, he moved his family to Maryland upon accepting a position with the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA), where he earned the respect and admiration of colleagues and clients, retiring in 1982. He was a member of Grace United Methodist Church in Gaithersburg.

He is survived by his wife of nearly 72 years, Opal; daughter Barbara(William)Hatchl of Annapolis, Maryland, and son Robert(Rita)Lyon of Winchester, Kansas; three grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren. Howard was preceded in death by a brother, David.