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January 20, 1993
GERARD H. BYE, 80, COMMUNITY ACTIVIST
Andy Wallace, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER
Gerard H. Bye, 80, who lived in Powelton Village for more than 40 years and was one of the organizers of the development group that helped bring about the renewal of the neighborhood, died Sunday at Stapeley in Germantown, a retirement community.
Besides helping to organize the Powelton Village Development Association, Mr. Bye was the first manager of the agency that bought, renovated and resold many of the deteriorated Victorian homes in Powelton, an effort that helped revitalize and stabilize the neighborhood.
He had settled there after World War II, when he returned from California after serving in the U.S. Forestry Service, the alternative service he performed as a conscientious objector.
A believer in cooperative, integrated housing, he became a founding member of Friendship House, an early effort at communal living at 34th Street and Lancaster Avenue. Over the next decade, 10 more Friendship Houses were bought and turned into co-ops.
When the Powelton Village Development Association was formed about 1956 to raise money to buy and renovate more houses in the area, Mr. Bye became its first manager, its only paid employee.
In 1964 Mr. Bye opened his own firm, Gerard H. Bye Real Estate, in an office at 40th and Chestnut Streets. He operated the firm until he retired in 1982.
The son of an art historian, Mr. Bye traced his roots to the days of William Penn, who gave some land in Bucks County to a Bye family ancestor. About 250 acres of that land - now known as Byecroft - stayed in the family through the years and Mr. Bye became the trustee of the estate when his father died.
Mr. Bye's chief hobby, said his son, Arthur E. Bye 3d, was watching over the farm and maintaining the four houses and large barn on the property.
Mr. Bye grew up in Swarthmore and attended Haverford College. During the 1930s, he went to work for Curacao Trading Co. and, for a time, was stationed in Amsterdam in the Netherlands, and in Colombia, Guatemala and New York.
He was soft-spoken and kind, honest and fair to a fault, said his son, Arthur Bye. Concerned about human rights, he felt neighborhoods should be diverse and reflect an ethnic, racial, cultural and economic mix of people.
Mr. Bye was a longtime member of the Philadelphia Board of Realtors and was an active member of the Central Philadelphia Meeting of Friends.
He is survived by his former wife, Lois Bye Funderburg, and their four children, Randl H. Bye, Gwendolyn Bye Schulman, Alan T. Bye and Arthur E. Bye 3d; a sister; two brothers, and five grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at the Central Philadelphia Meeting of Friends, 1515 Cherry St.
A private burial service will be held at the convenience of the family.
In lieu of flowers or gifts, donations can be made to the Central Philadelphia Meeting of Friends, 1515 Cherry St., Philadelphia 19102, or to Buckingham Friends School, Lahaska, Pa. 18931.
Copyright (c) 1993 The Philadelphia Inquirer, reprinted with permission
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