Norman Byrnes (lawyer)
Norman Thomas Byrnes was a 20th-century American attorney and public citizen of Boston, Massachusetts.
Byrnes was born in Waterville, New York on December 15, 1922. He was one of 12 children and grew up in relative poverty. He was graduated from Harvard College then fought in Western and Central Europe in World War II, where he earned a Bronze Star Medal and a battlefield commission as an officer. He was graduated from Harvard Law School in 1948 after which he was a prominent real estate attorney for 53 years.
In 1981–1982 Byrnes was president of the Massachusetts Conveyancers Association and received that organization's Richard B. Johnson Award in 1986. He was also president of Boston's Abstract Club and a founding member of the American College of Real Estate Lawyers. He helped develop air rights for the construction of the Prudential Center, and played a major role in the development of the Federal Reserve Bank Building in Boston.
In 1977, Byrnes was a founder of the Boston Natural Areas Network, a nonprofit dedicated to preservation of urban wilds in the Boston area. He also served as president of the organization. He was president of Massachusetts Half-Way Houses, a charity providing social integration assistance to released prisoners.Personal life
Byrnes was an expert contract bridge player and Bronze Life Master, and was president of the New England Bridge Conference. He was married twice and had three children and three stepchildren.
Byrnes died on July 9, 2009 in Clearwater, Florida.Publications
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• Byrnes, Norman – Massachusetts Acts of 1961 Enacted as
