Lyle Guion

Lyle Frederic Guion, age 95, passed away on January 2, 2021. He was born in St. Paul, Minnesota on April 17, 1925.

Lyle was preceded in death by his parents, Joseph and Cordelia Guion; and brothers, Verne and Joe.

Lyle is survived by his beloved wife of 73 years, June Guion (Werner); children Tom (Mary), Jim (Paula), Mike, Lynn Cusick (Ron), Jean Cowand (Starkey), Steve (Nageen); 16 grandchildren: Dan, Jon, Tom, Mike, Naomi, Samara, Alana, Ephron, Gina, Bobbi, Mike, Darcy, Dakota, Adam, Zachariah, Noah; 27 great grandchildren: Emma, Claire, Jack, Alice, Will, Tess, Ella, Lana, Jennifer, Tiffany, Julian, Camille, Alexa, Brooke, Max, Jennifer, Mason, Colin, Kylie, Emerson, Fiona, Weston, Aubree, Olivia, Landon, Christian, Jayden; and eight great-great grandchildren: Oliver, Avery, Iris, Ashton, Zoey, Eden, Clara, William.

Lyle will be remembered for his great love of family, his quick wit and mental math skills. He appreciated a good joke and always made his family feel loved. He will especially be remembered for being the best example of a loving husband, father, and grandfather. Lyle loved playing with his grands and great grands. He always knew how to make them giggle and they loved him dearly. He loved a good party or summertime picnic with relatives and friends. He loved to dance and sing, especially to 1940’s World War II big band music. Lyle was always very active into his senior years and he enjoyed bowling, golfing, bocce ball, and walks with June.

Lyle was a great teacher and coach. In his earlier years while the boys were young, Lyle coached little league baseball and took the time to ensure that each player understood the fundamentals of the game and how to throw and catch properly. He was also very good at coaching people on the fundamentals of bowling and golf. Lyle was also a good handyman and mechanic and by example taught his children many skills that would benefit them for a lifetime.

Lyle also loved playing cards and was always up for a game of cribbage with his Dad, Joe or anyone else who wanted to challenge him at Gin Rummy or other card or board games. Lyle and June loved the glitz and glamour of LasVegas and took numerous vacations to the Entertainment Capital of the World to enjoy the infinite games, food, drink and entertainment.

Lyle made it a point to keep in touch with family throughout his life, even reaching out on occasion to distant cousins and those he’d never met. Lyle loved reunion-style picnics that included distant cousins from both his and June’s families. Lyle was fascinated with the genealogy of both his and his wife’s families and loved assisting family members with accurate recollections of family history.

Lyle joined the Army Air Core starting in WWII. He was a gunner on the B24 until the war ended. Over the years as Lyle worked an assortment of sales jobs in the Twin Cities, he always remained connected to the US military by serving in the Air Force Reserves and the Army Reserves. He was also an active member of the American Legion Frogtown Post in St. Paul. It was his duty in the Army Reserves that eventually resulted in his greatest career accomplishment. In January of 1976, Lyle was approached by his post commander about a temporary 60 day assignment at the Pentagon in Washington D.C. The Army was looking to form a small group of reservists to work on bringing together the individual training programs of the US Army, the US Army Reserve and the National Guard under one single training program. Lyle’s commander knew that Master Sergeant Guion was the right guy to participate given his deep knowledge of Army Reserves training, his writing and editing skills, and the seriousness with which he approached each assignment. Given that it was the off-season for Lyle’s roofing company and he didn’t have much business in play, he jumped at the chance to work with a team of equally enthusiastic reservists in the US military’s most sacred location. When Lyle and the team of 14 others started work, it was quickly apparent to the Colonel in charge of the effort who the natural born leader was and Lyle was quickly assigned to be in charge of the team. After two months of intense work, the team had made great progress but it was far from completed. Lyle and one other team member were asked to stay on indefinitely. This offer resulted in Lyle going active duty again for the first time since WWII. Lyle and June, along with youngest son, Steve, then relocated to Springfield, VA in August of 1976.

In August of 1977, Lyle’s important work on the program was formally recognized with a promotion to Sergeant Major, the highest rank for an NCO. He was assigned a leadership role at TRADOC at Fort Monroe and the family moved to Hampton, VA. When he reached the age of 60, Lyle retired with a grand ceremony alongside a retiring General and two retiring Colonels. Lyle was offered numerous opportunities to work in other government agencies or for government contractors, but Lyle felt a greater obligation and duty awaiting him back home in St. Paul.

In October of 1985, Lyle and June moved back to St. Paul. He and June returned to care for Lyle’s elderly parents. It was at his parents home in St. Paul that they remained while his parents were alive, caring for them and tending to their needs in their final years. It also made for a great opportunity for Lyle and June to reconnect with family and friends they’d not been able to spend much time with since their move to VA back in 1976.

In the fall of 1991, Lyle and June moved to Lakeland, FL. They chose this location for its warm weather and it’s convenient location to the many attractions and beauty of Florida. It also happened to be in close proximity to where their lifelong friends, Betty and Bob Goodman, who they had known since high school, had also recently relocated. Lyle and June loved their lakeside oasis and the very active lifestyle of their senior community where happy hours and large festive gatherings in the community center were the norm. They also loved providing a great location for family to stay while visiting.

Eventually being far away from all family became less attractive to both and they moved back to Hampton, VA in late 1999. This move back to VA put them close to their two youngest children and their families. They were able to enjoy the company of their two youngest children and five grandchildren without traveling hundreds of miles for a visit. In Hampton, Lyle and June continued their active lifestyle of maintaining their home, hours of yard work, shopping and walks around parks. They also took numerous extended vacations to Minnesota, Florida and out west, including a month long trip exploring the many national parks. When living independently was eventually no longer an option, Lyle and June moved to St. Paul in 2017 where they resided at Cherrywood Pointe of Roseville.

Lyle was often quoted in his later years as saying that the only reason he was still alive was to take care of his loving wife, June. Their love for each was a living the example of honoring the wedding vows “to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do us part.”