Thomas J. Dwyer

Thomas J. Dwyer passed away on April 2, 2012 after a lengthy illness. Mr. Dwyer was born on May 16, 1923 in Newark, NJ. He was preceded in death by his parents Martin Dwyer and Mae Baker Treadwell Dwyer; his beloved brother, Martin Dwyer; sister, Evelyn Dwyer VanSciver; and his son, Thomas J. Dwyer, Jr. He is survived by his devoted wife, Irene Cushing Dwyer of North Palm Beach, FL; daughters, Winifred Dwyer Post of San Francisco, CA, and Doreen Dwyer of North Palm Beach, FL; son, Douglas Dwyer of Asheville, NC; 9 grandchildren; 2 great-grandchildren; sister-in-law, Mary Dwyer of Jupiter Island, FL; and many nieces and nephews.

Mr. Dwyer was a graduate of the Montclair Academy in Montclair, NJ and Andover-Phillips Academy, Andover, MA. He attended Yale University, New Haven, CT and graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, MD with a B.S. in electrical engineering. He received his Master’s degree in business from Columbia University, New York, NY. While in Yale and the Naval Academy, he played on their football teams as quarterback; in addition, he was a member of the boxing and wrestling teams where he won the wrestling championship in his weight class at the Naval Academy.

Upon graduation from the Naval Academy, Mr. Dwyer was engaged in WWII in the European, African, Middle Eastern, and American theaters and was awarded the World War II Victory Medal.

Following his Honorable discharge from the Navy, he worked as the Admeasurer for the Panama Canal. Later, he accepted a position in the private sector as president of an architectural prestressed concrete firm in the New York metropolitan area where they constructed skyscrapers. Beginning in 1968, he worked on classified projects for the Alaskan Air Command during the time when Russia still posed a threat to the U.S. Mr. Dwyer continued this line of work in San Pedro, CA and then returned to the private sector in Long Island, NY and later in Florida. He resided in Boca Raton, Delray Beach, and lastly in North Palm Beach, FL.

Mr. Dwyer enjoyed sailing with his wife on their double-ended ketch, “Blue Horizon”, and cruising the Bahamas and southern Eleuthra and Exuma islands extensively. Later, he purchased a trawler/cruiser, “Lady Irene”, and continued to enjoy the blue Caribbean waters in addition to cruising Lake Okeechobee and Florida’s western coastline and interior waterways. He had great camaraderie with friends that they met from all over the world. He had 2 English Springer Spaniels Jessy and later Jenny who were wonderful companions.

Visitation to be held on Saturday, April 7th at 11:00 a.m. at Howard-Price Funeral Home, 754 US Highway One, North Palm Beach, FL with memorial services to follow at noon. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Florida English Springer Spaniel Rescue at http://englishspringerspaniel.rescueme.org/Florida.