BEATRICE – A long-time Beatrice public servant at local and state levels of government, has died. 

Dennis Byars passed away at home Thursday, at the age of 81. He served in elective office for 38 years, spanning seven decades…starting as a Justice of the Peace from 1969 to 1972…then as a Beatrice School Board member in 1972.

Byars was serving as a Gage County Supervisor in District Four…his second stay on the county board.  He was a county supervisor from 1977 to 1983, then was elected and has served on the board since 2009.  He was Chairman of the Building and Grounds and Equalization Committees…and previously served as a board representative to Region Five services.

Byars also served as a Nebraska State Senator from the 30th district.  He was appointed to the Legislature in 1988, elected two years later and served until 1994.  He was then elected again as a state lawmaker in 1998, and again in 2002…..serving until he left the legislature due to term limits, in 2007.

While a state lawmaker, Byars served as Chairman of both the Education and Health and Human Services committees.    He was known as an advocate for those with developmental disabilities and worked for Mosaic while he was serving as a Nebraska lawmaker.  He was also influential in helping to establish the public health system in Nebraska using settlement funding from tobacco companies distributed to the states along with dedicated state funding.

Byars later served as Executive Director for the Beatrice Community Hospital Foundation. In his earlier years, he worked as a real estate agent in Beatrice.  He served as a Second Lieutenant in the National Guard from 1958 to 1968.

Byars graduated from Beatrice High School and attended the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.  He was inducted into the Beatrice Educational Foundation Hall of Fame in 2017…. a member of the BHS Class of 1958.  He is survived by his wife Janet, two sons, two brothers and several grandchildren.

Funeral Services will be held Tuesday, at 10:30 a.m., at St. John Lutheran Church, in Beatrice.