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James Robert Byron died of natural causes on November 2, 2009, in Waterbury, Conn., surrounded by family. He was 82. James Robert Byron was born on March 15, 1927, in Gloversville, New York, to James Joseph Byron and Margaret Weaver Byron. He was the eldest of three children born to the Byrons. Mr. Byron grew up in Gloversville, N.Y. and graduated from Gloversville High School in 1945, where he played varsity baseball and basketball and was student body president. Shortly thereafter he joined the United States Army Air Force and subsequently spent part of his military service in the military in Guam. After he was honorably discharged from the Army, Mr. Byron enrolled at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York, and graduated from Pratt in 1951 with a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering. In 1960, Mr. Byron was authorized to practice as a Professional Engineer by the Texas State Board of Registration for Professional Engineers. Mr. Byron was a member of the AIChE, of the Washington International Business Council, and of the Society of American Military Engineers. In 1951, Mr. Byron accepted a position with Goodyear Tire and Rubber in Akron, Ohio. He and his growing family soon moved to Houston, Texas where, while active in the St. John's Presbyterian Church, they lived until late in 1959, when Mr. Byron accepted a two-year assignment in Melbourne, Australia. After returning to the U.S. from Australia with his family late in 1962, Mr. Byron joined Fluor Corporation in Los Angeles, Calif. In 1965, Mr. Byron and his family moved to London, the site of Fluor's international sales office. They returned to the U.S. in the summer of 1971, where Mr. Byron worked in the New York sales office, and lived with his family in New Canaan, Connecticut. In 1979, Mr. Byron returned to London as head of Fluor Corporation's international sales force, with offices throughout the world. Mr. Byron retired to McLean, Va., where he found a rewarding second career as a docent for the National Gallery of Art, until he ended his involvement with the NGA in 2007. Bompie, as Mr. Byron was affectionately known to his family after his first grandchild was born, was a committed husband to his wife, Isobel, a wonderful and loving father to his four children, James, Jonathan, Lynn and Mark; was loved by his eight grandchildren, Caroline Byron, James Wilson, Molli Byron, Charlotte Wilson, Andrew Byron, Reid Byron, Robert Wilson, Kristen Byron, and William Wilson, a grandson who predeceased him. He adored his two late cats, Soba and Sheba. Throughout his life, Bompie was gracious, a true gentleman, and, without a doubt, a renaissance man. His love of history, art, etiquette, classical music, America, and family, came through to all who knew him throughout his life. He is also survived by: his loving younger sister and brother, Mary Hunt and Patric Byron; his son-in-law, Don Wilson (husband of Lynn Wilson); daughters-in-law, Susan Byron (wife of Jon Byron) and Michele Byron (wife of Mark Byron). He was a wonderful gentle man who will be dearly missed by all.