William Butler (Bill) Tye, III
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We are sad to announce the passing of our family's patriarch, beloved husband, and adored father and uncle, William Butler (Bill) Tye III on July 27, 2022. Bill was born April 1, 1943 in Macon, Ga., to Adrienne Hawkins Tye and William B. Tye Jr. He attended Emory University, majoring in Economics, and Harvard University, receiving his PhD in the same field. After a stint teaching economics at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado, he and his wife moved to Belmont, Massachusetts, raising their family there. He became a respected and sought-after expert in economic consulting based in the Boston area. In 1990, Bill became one of the founding partners of The Brattle Group, which has since become one of the world's premier economic consulting firms.
He is remembered by his beloved wife of over 52 years, Caroline Dudley Lester Tye; his children John Napier Tye and Caroline Dudley Tye; his daughter-in-law Elif Kilic; his sister-in-law Aileen Dormer Tye; his nephews Justin Ren? Tye and Andrew Duncan Tye; his niece by marriage, Reesheda Martin Tye; his wonderful great-nephews, Benjamin Andrew Tye and Jacob Martin Tye; and countless other family, friends, and colleagues. He is preceded by his brother and best friend, Duncan Ren? Tye.
Bill was an avid traveler, reaching six of the seven continents with his wife by his side. He was very involved in his children's lives; he was an amazing little league coach for his son's team, and was always heard whooping in the audience during the applause of his daughter's theater performances. He loved to fish so much that he built his own bass pond. His natural enemies were fire ants, and anything that tried to eat his fish. He loved the Boston Red Sox, the New England Patriots, and above all, the Georgia Bulldogs. He was a movie buff, and his adoration of Otis Redding, Bob Dylan, Brahms, Beethoven, The Eagles, and all things Motown was eternal.
As an economist, Bill knew the value of money, and over the years was quite generous in supporting family and strangers with their health and education. In retirement, Bill provided the crucial seed funding to Whistleblower Aid (his son's legal organization), and was thrilled to play a role in protecting American democracy.
Bill's enthusiasm and humor were infectious. He loved dinners that stretched for hours over many bottles of wine. He told a lot of jokes (or rather, more precisely and endearingly, he told the same jokes a lot of times.) On multiple occasions, his children were surprised to come home and find he had invited their friends over, and was entertaining them.
Those who knew him best saw that Bill was in fact a deep listener, always trying to understand others' views and learn from his mistakes. Remarkably, Bill continued to grow and change late in life. Though he had been raised in a racially segregated system, he always supported voting rights for all, and in his final decade became a strong and vocal advocate for equality. Bill always loved and cared for dogs, and a year before he died, he said that recently he had come to appreciate all animals in new ways.
We never once saw him try to make a person feel bad or put them down. He was as proud of his family as we are of him. He will be forever loved.
In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to one of Bill's favorite charities: The Rescue Mission of Macon, Ga.,
The Smile Train, Doctors Without Borders, and of course, Whistleblower Aid.
Anderson Funeral Home and Crematory is serving the family.