Joseph Harold Byrne, Jr

It is with deep sorrow and much love that we mourn the passing of Joseph H. Byrne, Jr., age 81, who left this life June 21, 2026 to join his Creator for his next journey.

He was born in Houston, Texas on Armistice Day in May 1945 to loving parents Joseph H. Byrne, Sr, and Winifred Schmidt Byrne. While the world was celebrating the end of World War II, Joseph’s parents were celebrating his birth survival despite doctor’s predictions. Joseph lived his life with a strong sense that he was here with a life purpose to fulfill.

In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his beloved daughter Lori Jo Bryant and his dear sister Barbara Cady.

He is survived by his loving wife Pat Talley, son Joseph D. O'Byrne, wife Robin, step-daughter Desel Hair, Grandson Joseph S. O'Byrne, Partner Tony Heims. Grandson Jr. Bryant, Granddaughter Krista Heyer, husband Gabriel, great grandchildren Madison, John, and Rachel. Sister Bonnie King (Phil) and many loving nieces and nephews of his family and Pat’s family. Also, Joseph’s dear family of the heart Chandu Kumar and Khushi and children Vaishnavi, Devansh, and Aadya. Along with many other family and friends who will sadly miss him.

If Joseph were to asked about his life he would say, “What an amazing adventure life has been!”

Joseph felt his two primary callings were Mechanical Engineering and Ministry / Teaching. Joseph said, “I was born to work in those two fields.”

From an early age Joseph was interested in discovering how things worked. He credits that curiosity to his success as an engineer. Joseph’s engineering gift has enabled him to design in a broad range of fields from complex military equipment, oil and gas equipment, deep sea equipment, airplanes, helicopters and designing for space flight.

Joseph has many patents for his designs for the oil and gas drilling and production business. He was called to oil well blow outs by the famed Red Adair to design equipment on the spot for fixes to aid in controlling the blowout.

As an engineer Joseph wrote over three hundred published technical papers, and four published illustrated product handbooks. His first technical publication was the U.S. Naval Air Maintenance and Training Manual for the UH-2C Helicopter which was used in the Vietnam War to rescue downed American fighter pilots. He made all the isometric drawings for every part on that helicopter, and he designed the flight simulator to train navy pilots to fly the helicopter.

Joseph headed up the engineering team that did the design drawings for the backup guidance system for the Moon lander, Lunar Excursion Module (LEM) that landed the first man on the moon.

Joseph’s last years in engineering were in Fort Worth. He was immensely proud of the work his team did in designing and putting into production proprietary pumps for oil and gas production. Their designs remain company “wins.” Team members remained lifelong friends of Joseph. His enthusiasm at meeting the challenges of this design work kept him engaged until he retired at age 73.

Although Joseph had many engineering successes the early designs that required hand drawn isometric drawings were his favorites: the design of the UH-2C Helicopter and the design of the Bellanca Aeries T-250 aircraft.

Joseph’s spiritual path began early with Zen meditation at age seven in Japan. Tai Chi classes at this age also influenced his life. He was very aware of his spiritual connection.

Over his life span Joseph received messages and guidance related to his path. One was a clear message that his life purpose was to ‘Help The People to Find their way.’ This resulted in Joseph returning to ministry later in life as an ordained minister for two Unity Churches, where he was able to share his love of the Bible and what he knew to be true, “There is only one Path, and everyone is on it.”

Joseph was a young Assembly of God minister for several years. His energy and enthusiasm for his congregation resulted in growth of the church which allowed them to build a new building which was paid for within six months. The Assembly of God also sent Joseph on a special mission to Hong Kong and Korea to visit and encourage a group that engaged in translating the Bible into the Mandarin language for the millions of Chinese Christians.

During these early years Joseph also managed a Christian charity medical clinic in the poorest Ward in Houston, Texas. He worked for several years as the Resident Director of the Teen Challenge drug rehabilitation center in Houston.

Beginning in high school Joseph was an avid bird watcher and loved nature in all its forms. His last years he especially enjoyed “all the shades of green” in nature and honored trees for all they do for our earth and mankind.

Joseph was multi-talented as he wrote poetry and loved to write fiction. On Joseph’s first of three retirements he returned to school and earned a degree in journalism with a minor in archeology from the University of Texas at Arlington where he worked for the school newspaper. Joseph was proud to be part of the founding group for the Native American Student Association. He felt he was able to honor his heritage in this way.

Joseph’s interest in archeology began in the 1960s while researching historical sites in Jerusalem as a young ministerial student. This led Joseph to write The Curse of Baruch. Although written in fiction form the book reveals Joseph’s conclusions about the real hiding locations of the Ark of the Covenant and the Menorah. (Available on Amazon.)

Joseph left many of his thoughts for us in his journals and writings. A recent journal entry was:

                                       If I could only change one thing in the universe, what would it be?
                               I would eliminate the lack of awareness of meaning and purpose for every human.

In his ministry Joseph loved encouraging folks to be “all you can be.” In his last days Joseph was genuinely concerned about our world. He talked about “calling all good people to work together to save our world.” He passionately believed if each person were to recognize why they are here and live up to their potential, then “we can save the earth.”

February 2026 journal entry:

                                                                     Thanks for being you.
                                                                     No one else can be you.
                                                            The Universe is watching you flourish!
                                                We (the entire world) need your energy, and your presence.
                                                                                       Always,
                                                                                And in all ways.
                                                                       I am Joseph, and in spirit
                                                            there is no distance between you and me.

March 2026 journal entry:
                           If we were to live according to only one scripture, then we would affect a change in the whole world. That scripture is:

                                                                “ God is above all, in all, and thru all.”

                                Why? Because the Thru All nature of all reality awakens us to everything, and makes us realize that we are all interconnected                                                                                           with each other, and to everything else . . .

                                                                                      EVERYTHING, EVERYWHERE

                                                                                            because God’s Spirit is

                                                                                                Thru All !

                                                                                           Moving Thru Everything,

                                                                                                Thru everywhere

                                                                                             Thru you, and thru me.

                                               Spirit is eternal, and Spirit has always been present everywhere. And always will be.

                                             When our body dies our personal Spirit blends back into God’s Omnipresent (everywhere present) Spirit.


As Joseph drew his last breath, he was content in the knowledge of his Oneness with all.

If you would like to honor Joseph with a memorial, please consider planting a tree or donating to your local food bank or senior center / meals on wheels. Thank you.