Obituary of Byron Edwin Truax

Byron Edwin Truax, faithful and loving husband of 71 years to Mary Anne Quiter Truax, and father, grandfather and great-grandfather to many, passed away in the loving embrace of his family in Houston, Texas on March 4, 2023.

“Byron”, “By”, “Dr. Truax”, “dad”, “grampa” and “great-grampa” as he was called, was born at his family home on December 8, 1925 in Foxboro, Massachusetts. He was the third of seven children born to Edwin Errol Truax and Rose Marie Labrie. In December 1943, Byron joined the Army Air Corps, where he served state side through the conclusion of WWII. With the GI Bill, Byron later attended Tufts University and Northwestern University earning his DDS in 1951. He served in the U.S. Army Dental Corps from 1951 until 1954, and later built his own private dental practices, first in Elmhurst, Illinois, and then in Miami, Florida until the early 1980s. Following retirement from dentistry, Byron taught at Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina from 1983 until 1991, before eventually settling in Venice, Florida and later in Houston, where Byron and Mary Anne have lived since 2009.

So much of Bryon’s adult journey was defined by his marriage to Mary Anne on February 23, 1952. He often commented, including in February 2022 when he and Mary Anne celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary, that the greatest joy of his life was his marriage to Mary Anne and the family they have been blessed to lead.
From his start as a young boy in Foxboro, through his professional career as a dentist and as a husband and father, to later in life, Byron modeled kindness, leadership, a strong work ethic, integrity, a love of music, curiosity, competitiveness, the joy of adventure, and importantly a deep and abiding trust in the mystery of God that he saw through his Catholic faith. Bryon held leadership roles with local school board associations and in the various parish communities where he and Mary Anne resided. His love of music led him as a young man and developing drummer to help organize a swing band before and during WWII. His endless curiosity and sense of adventure led him to take up boating, scuba diving and piloting small airplanes. His fierce competitive spirit translated into not only pursuing a passion for golf and running, but also to a bridge-playing partnership with Mary Anne that led both in 1995 to become Life Masters bridge players with the ABCL. And in his post-retirement life, and consistent with his ethic of giving back, Bryon lent the teaching skills he developed in the university to tutoring middle and high school students in Venice, Florida.

Throughout his journey, Bryon leaned into the truths outlined in the text of Desiderata, which he pointed to often: “speak your truth quietly and clearly”; “listen”; don’t “compare yourself with others”; “be gentle with yourself” because “you are a child of the universe;” and never forget that “with all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world”. This was a creed that Bryon lived by.

Byron was preceded in death by Mary Anne’s and his infant son in 1956 and their eldest son, Byron Truax, Jr. in 2018.  He is survived by Mary Anne, and six of their eight children, Helen Truax (Ian Ross); Tom Truax (Laura Lopez), Mary Frappier (Robert), Patty Truax Stewart; Terrence (Laura Sumner) and Richard (Sally Hiserman), as well as a large cast of grandchildren and their spouses/partners, and great-grandchildren, and his sole-surviving sibling, Lloyd Truax (Shirley) of Foxboro, Massachusetts.

A Mass of the Resurrection for Byron will be celebrated at 11:00 a.m., on Thursday, March 9, 2023 at St. Michael the Archangel Catholic Church, 1801 Sage Road in Houston, Texas. A reception will follow from 3:00 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. at The Buckingham, 8580 Woodway Drive in Houston.

In lieu of flowers, the Truax family encourages anyone wishing to make a gift in Byron’s honor to do so via ALS.org or by giving to a local charity of choice.

To leave a condolence for the family, please visit josephjearthman.com.