David Gyure, Jr.

David Gyure Jr., 90, died on Aug. 1 in Kingwood, Texas, after a long battle with dementia. He taught at Comal ISD for 34 years, including every chemistry class from Canyon High School's founding until his retirement in 1991.

He was born on June 25, 1932, in Gary, Indiana, the oldest of three children to David and Julia Gyure. He entered the U.S. Air Force in 1950, a few weeks after the outbreak of the Korean War. In May 1952, while stationed at Barksdale AFB in Shreveport, Louisiana, he was sent to guard a B-29 that made an emergency landing in Tyler, Texas. There he met Nela Greenhaw. Before their first date, he told his father that he had met the girl he was going to marry. They got married in 1952.

After his discharge from the Air Force in 1953, he went to college, completing his bachelor's degree in education at the University of Texas at Austin in 1958 and earning a master's in biology from Southwest Texas State University, now Texas State, in San Marcos in 1967.

Mr. Gyure was hired in 1957 by the Comal Rural High School District to set up the science department for the planned high school. Teaching became his life's work. He mainly taught chemistry and biology and led field trips to Palo Duro Canyon, Enchanted Rock, East Texas and, most memorably, Big Bend National Park.

After retirement at CISD, he taught classes and ran the chemical storeroom at Southwest Texas. He also stayed active with Comal County Republicans and the Lone Star Travelers RV club.

He was a man who passionately followed his interests. His travels took him to almost every state although he was always more interested in natural wonders than big cities. As a photographer, he built his own dark room and used slides of rocks, flora, and fauna from his trips in classroom lectures. His love of reptiles and amphibians led to him serve as state president of the Texas Herpetological Society.

He was preceded in death by his wife of 60 years, Nela, and a brother, Gene Gyure. He is survived by son David and his wife, Elaine, and their children, Christine, and Caroline, of Yorktown, Virginia; son Joseph and his wife, Leah, of Kingwood, Texas; and sister Carole Mikolas and her husband, Roger, of Hobart, Indiana.

A memorial service will be held at 4:30 pm on Monday, Aug. 8 at the First Protestant Church of New Braunfels. Burial was in Rocky, Oklahoma.

Donations may be sent to the Big Bend Natural History Association, PO Box 196, Big Bend National Park TX 79834


Funeral:10:00 a.m., Saturday, August 6, 2022
Ray & Martha's Funeral Home
Cordell, Oklahoma


Under the direction of Ray & Martha's Funeral Home