Bryan Blackburn,

Services for Bryan (Lawton) Blackburn, Jr. (75) of Tyler, Texas, will be held on August 20th at 11:00 am at Trinity Fellowship Church, Tyler Texas with Pastor Kerry Kirkwood officiating. Visitation will be from 6-8pm Thursday, August 18th at Stewart Family Funeral Home, Tyler Texas. Mr. Blackburn was at his home in Tyler when he passed away on August 16, 2011. Lawton was born April 25th 1936 in Dallas Texas to Bryan and Mary Blackburn and was the fifth generation son of Texas farmers and ranchers. He grew up in Texas, living in Dallas, Lubbock, San Antonio and Granbury. He graduated from Granbury High School in May 1954, earned a BS in mathematics from Baylor University in 1958, and his MS in Computer Science from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in 1977. In 1959 he was drafted by the US Army and served at the Defense Atomic Support Agency (DASA) in the Pentagon, Washington DC, where he was trained in computer programming. After his discharge from the Army in 1961, Lawton was hired as a civilian mathematician at DASA. In 1963 he was transferred to the Defense Communications Agency (DCA), which became Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA). Later, in 1967, he became the Chief of the Software Systems Division supporting all of the Defense Systems Support Organization’s (DSSO) mainframes. By 1978 he was responsible for all operation systems software in DSSO. Throughout his 34 years of service Lawton received countless Sustained Superior Service Awards and in 1982 he received the DCA Sustained Meritorious Service Award. Lawton was a member of the Gideon’s International (West Camp), and of Trinity Fellowship Church where he served as an elder. He enjoyed donuts, coffee, eating out, train rides, singing, and spending time with friends and loved ones. In 1961 Lawton married Grace Whipple and this past February they celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. In addition to his wife Grace, he is survived by two sisters, Helon Razniak and Carolyn Sue Badgett, five children and eighteen grandchildren: Daniel (son) and Nancy Blackburn, Jordan and Austin, Paul (son) and Camilla Blackburn, Noah, Jacob, Christy, Rose, John, Samuel and Boaz, Jim and Valerie Hahn (daughter), Joshua, Jaclyn, Luke, Judah and Abigail, Jim and Colleen Herring (daughter), Megan, Chrislyn, Joel and Nathan, and Cynthia Blackburn (daughter). For more information or to express condolences, visit www.stewartfamilyfuneral.com.

Bryan Blackburn,

April 25, 1936 - August 16, 2011