Anthony "Tony" George Denyer

Anthony (Tony) Denyer was born 20 January 1940 at home in Christchurch (Dorset county), England to Harold George & Emily Rose (neé Wheeler) Denyer. His earliest memories were of wartime rationing and the country’s defense preparations. Tony was an avid cyclist during his early years, riding from one end of the country to the other, and was a lifetime Bournemouth football club supporter. Graduating high school at age 16, he was accepted for a 5-year Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering apprenticeship at De Havilland Aircraft. He then joined the structural analysis group at British Aircraft Corp. Boeing recruited him in 1965 to work in the new field of metal fatigue, facilitating his immigration to America and paying moving costs to Seattle, Washington. Initially he had planned to work just a few years there and return to England. However, in 1968 he spent an impactful 2.5 months camping and driving his white ’65 Ford Mustang across the United States with the love of his life, Dawn Denyer. They started out from Seattle and eventually reached New York where they boarded the S.S. Europa back to England. Within just three weeks of arriving in England, they were married and had made the decision to begin a new life together in America permanently. By 1971 he was living in Torrance and later Rancho Palos Verdes, California, working for Rockwell North American Aircraft (later part of Boeing). He would present papers at a number of national and international conferences, from the FAA and NASA to NATO. During that same time he, with Dawn, lovingly raised two sons, Mark (born 1973) and Stuart (born 1976) – coaching their soccer teams, teaching them golf and skiing, supporting them at church, helping with their school work, and giving them an appreciation for travel and the world around them. Tony retired as a Technical Fellow of Boeing at age 59 and moved to Corvallis, Oregon where he and Dawn designed their ideal home on five acres, looking out on the beautiful Oregon countryside and its abundant wildlife. In 2019, twenty years after retirement, Boeing asked Tony to return to working part-time, given that he was among the very few persons who understood the structural analytical programs (some of the earliest computer software) that he had written decades previously to track metal fatigue. He mentored generations of engineers for both Boeing and the U.S. Air Force, and continued working up until just a week before succumbing to an unexpected bout with viral meningitis. Throughout his life, Tony was known as a caring and patient person to everyone he met. He is survived by Dawn, his beloved wife of over 55 years, sister Naomi (Terry) Stanbridge, sons Mark (Natasha) and Stuart (Taylor) Denyer and granddaughter Evelyn Denyer.

Tributes

Anthony "Tony" George Denyer

January 20, 1940 - May 16, 2024