Norman Breyer

May 15th, 2016

May 15th, 2016

Both Wilma and I offer our personal condolences on the death of your father. I first met your Dad when he was finishing up his PhD work in night school at IIT, and I was finishing up my undergraduate work there. I had also taken night school classes during my time working as a coop-student with the International Harvester company. Not an easy thing to do, and even harder for someone with a family. In the Metallurgy Department student getting their degrees with night school classes was the norm rather than the exception. But this was part of the die that forged your Dad’s nature. This and his participation in WWII, eventually coming back to work in the steel industry at the Indiana/Illinois border close to Lake Michigan. Then making the decision to pursue a PhD, so that he could become a teacher and mentor to students. A momentous decision, and the last major strike of the forge hammer.

In 1965 I started my PhD program at IIT, while Norm was starting as a Professor on the IIT faculty in the Department of Metallurgical Engineering. Like Bill Warke and many others, I too became part of the “leaded steel” team. I asked your Dad to be my Thesis Advisor and he accepted. It turned out, my research work involved using specialized testing equipment that we had to fabricate in the Mechanics Department. As such I gained another Thesis Advisor, Professor James Dally, associated with that Department. They say that it is hard to work for two bosses. That certainly was not the case here, Jim and your Dad were, as they say, kindred spirits. Where your Dad excelled at teaching, explaining and clarifying, as well as mentoring, Jim excelled at engineering research, designing equipment, and testing, as well as mentoring. What a team. There was never a problem.

Wilma and I were married early in 1967, and by 1970, I packed up two young boys and Wilma, and off we went to London, England to start a career. When I told your Dad that I was leaving to build huge steel structures around the world, he told me to make sure they were best ones ever built. When you have been associated with someone exceptional, someone that is so good at doing what they do best, that when they are gone, it is often said that with their passing, the mold was broken. I truly hope that is not the case. The world really needs many people of your father’s caliber, and that forging process is a tough one.

From 1967 until the late 1990’s both Wilma & I have had the privilege and the honor, to be in the presence of your Dad, me more so than Wilma. As such, we both benefited from laughing, joking, storytelling, and philosophizing together with Norm, on those so too rare instances. Your father helped to mold me into the person I am today, and I know that I am a better man for having known your Dad. It is not just me, the students at IIT that interacted with your father, all have fond memories. And the memories, are still just wonderful.

Kent & Wilma Johnson

~Kent &Wilma Johnson
~former student & friend, Harvard, IL

May 3rd, 2016

We enjoyed all the times we spent with Norman. He always had a smile and a quick wit. We loved our dinners out with Norm and Claire as well as all the family events in which we participated. We regret not being able to attend the funeral or Shiva. Love to all the family. Lee and Karel

~Karel and Lee Wolfson
~cousins, Delray Beach. FL

May 2nd, 2016

First of all, let me express my sympathy for you upon the death of your dear father. I must say that I share your sense of loss, but to a lesser degree, of course. My first association with Norm was in 1959, when I was employed as a summer student and worked directly for him, using a file cabinet in the corner of his office. My summer of 1960 was spent there at LaSalle Steel, too.

By 1965, Norm had completed his PhD and was on the faculty of IIT. I was working in Columbus, Ohio, had married and we had our first child, Robert. Out of the blue, Norm called me and invited me to come back to IIT and work on my PhD on a contract he had received. This led ultimately to me being part of the “leaded steel” team, and the completion of my graduate studies under your father’s leadership. Upon graduating in 1969, I was promoted from Instructor to Associate Professor, and became a colleague of NN Breyer, PhD. We continued to be the best of friends, and, when Norm became Department Chairman, he took the very best of care of me, his junior fellow faculty member, until I left for industry in 1978. We continued to be close friends after that, and I will always consider him as one of the finest people I ever was associated with.

To me, Norm Breyer was always kind, gentle, the best boss of all that I ever had, and my benefactor. Oh, yes. His humor…I wish I had a dollar for every time I heard him say, “So much for drilling holes in the bottom of the boat to let the water out.”

I share your loss, with many, many, many fond memories of Norman N. Breyer, PhD.

~William Warke
~Student & Colleague, Palos Hills

May 1st, 2016

Dear Norman,

Please rest in peace. We will always remember your great sense of humor and jokes. Your invaluable knowledge in metallurgy will pass onto the new generations years after years. Thanks for the great contributions in the fields of metallurgical science and humanity.

~Philip & Guiru Nash
~colleague, Chicago, IL 60616