Business manager for Topsham, Harpswell schools dies at 57

TOPSHAM — Steve Dyer, business manager of School Administrative District 75 since 2009, died unexpectedly July 20.

Superintendent Brad Smith said the 57-year-old Greene resident apparently died overnight, and was found unresponsive the next morning.

Calling Dyer “an integral part of our school district” in a statement July 21, Smith said Dyer’s involvement with the district transcended his work on the budget.

“Steve was a remarkable individual, and we are struggling to deal with this news,” Smith said. “… We simply will never be able to replace him. He has touched so many lives, in so many ways. He was so much more than a business manager to us.”

Smith said in an interview July 21 that Dyer’s department is good at its job, “and that’s who we’re going to rely on for the time being” while the district determines long-term plans for filling Dyer’s role.

Dyer graduated from Greely High School in Cumberland in 1977, then studied civil engineering at the University of Maine and business administration at Western New England College.

He served in the U.S. Army, and was public works director in Sanford from 1987-1989, and town manager in Bowdoinham (1989-94), Monmouth (1994-2004), and Oakland (2004-08).

Dyer is survived by his wife, two children and one step-child.

Alex Lear can be reached at 781-3661 ext. 113 or alear@theforecaster.net. Follow him on Twitter: @learics.

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