Tweeten, Byron L. (1947-2017)

TWEETEN, BROWN, SHEIMO, SALMON, MAYBERRY

Posted By: Paul Nagy (email)
Date: 12/15/2017 at 18:55:40

Byron L. Tweeten
April 28, 1947 – September 1, 2017

Naples, Florida— Byron L. Tweeten, a resident of Naples, Florida, passed away suddenly on September 1, 2017, of a heart aneurysm while visiting New York City.

Mr. Tweeten was born to Lehman and Delores (Olsen) Tweeten in Mount Valley Township just outside Forest City, Iowa, on April 28, 1947. He had a gorgeous voice, and consequently, music played, not surprisingly, a significant role in his life. Indeed, at Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa, he earned a Bachelor of Arts and Music Education Degree (cum laude). Then, he went on to complete a master's degree in Educational Leadership, Adult Learning, and Rehabilitation Counseling at the University of Wisconsin (Milwaukee). He was also awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Laws from Concordia University in Seward, Nebraska.

In 1970, Byron founded The Next-Door Foundation, Inc., a Milwaukee neighborhood-based children’s and family service agency that specialized in at-risk children and family education and treatment programs. To this day, the Next-Door Foundation remains a model organization for high success rates and social change in urban settings. Byron, then, moved to Hancock, Michigan, where he became Director of Development for Suomi College. Next, Howard Brennen Associates recruited him to advise non-profit clients and consult on establishing funds for growth and development.

In 1981, Byron founded Growth Design Corporation and broadened his support for not-for-profit organizations to include diverse children and family organizations, health care, higher and secondary education, human and social services, public and private foundations, fraternal benefit societies, and religious denominations along with their associated institutions. Next, he summarized the many lessons he had learned over the years as a trusted and valued consultant in his book Transformational Boards – Engaging Boards and Embracing Change, published by Jossey-Bass in 2002.

Throughout his life, Byron had a passion for serving and advising communities of faith and leadership organizations. Most recently, he had been working with Emmanuel Lutheran Church in Naples, Florida, and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, refining the development and implementation of church models for the next century. Leading the development of Emmanuel Park underway on Oil Well Road, Byron was, also, serving as Chief Executive Officer of Emmanuel Communities, Inc. and Emmanuel Academies, Inc., two non-profits created by Emmanuel Lutheran Church members to further the ongoing transformation of Emmanuel in Naples and its emerging ministries in Southwest Florida, in partnership with numerous local and national organizations.

Byron, truly, had a significant and lasting impact on many organizations around the world. His knowledge and expertise were well respected and appreciated. On the personal side he loved Ole and Lena jokes and improvising jazz on the piano. He will be, greatly, missed by those who knew him.

Survivors include his daughter, Alison, of Hoffman Estates, Illinois; his mother, Delores Tweeten, of Forest City, Iowa; his sisters, Sonje (Tweeten) Brown, and her husband, Dennis, of Burnsville, Minnesota, and Nance (Tweeten) Sheimo, and her husband, Tom, of Fertile, Iowa; his nieces and nephew: Jennifer (Brown) Salmon, and her husband, Brad, Trisca Dee (Sheimo) Mayberry, and her husband, Jameson, and Scott Brown, and his wife, Theresa; along with special friends, Bob Steckenrider and Kathy Tweeten; as well as many other close friends and associates. Byron was preceded in death by his father Lehman Tweeten.

Services will be held in Forest City, Iowa, in September and in Naples, Florida, on Saturday, October 7th, 2017, at 11:00 AM with lunch immediately following at Emmanuel Lutheran Church, 777 Mooring Line Drive, Naples, Florida 34102. Memorials in his honor can be sent to PO Box 106, 1590 W. Algonquin Rd, Hoffman Estates, Illinois 60192.

Family of Byron L. Tweeten, Hoffman Estates, Illinois 2017.

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