Frances Mary Dryo

PORTLAND – Frances Mary Dyro, 84, passed away at her home in Portland on Oct. 26, 2025. Fran was born to Sigmund Stanislaus and Mary Agnes Dyro on Oct. 15, 1941 in Portland.

She grew up in Portland, graduated from Portland High School in 1959 with high honors and received a full scholarship to MIT to be one of the very few women there. She went on to University of Maryland Medical School and then interned at Maine Medical Center, where she had been a Candy Striper in her youth.

After a neurology residency at New York Presbyterian Hospital, Fran practiced in her Portland home office on Danforth Street for several years. Kind, considerate and soft-hearted, she would accept payment in products such as flats of blueberries and quarts of maple syrup.

She went on to practice at the West Roxbury, Mass. Veteran’s Hospital and serve on the faculty at Harvard Medical School. Her work there and at subsequent medical institutions led to many scientific and medical publications, one of which showed that inhaling glue vapors caused neurologic damage to Maine shoe factory workers. She often served as an expert witness in medical-legal matters.

Dr. Dyro volunteered for one month each year at a remote mission hospital in India, where she learned Hindi to better serve her patients. She was a fearless and adventurous traveler, often extending her India trips to explore alone throughout Asia and Europe. She was a member of the Portland Altrusa Club volunteering for many of its humanitarian projects.

Frances was an accomplished seamstress, cook, forager of mushrooms, 10K runner, actress in local theater and coloratura soprano. Her powerful voice in the choir still echoes through Portland’s Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church.

Frances is survived by her brothers Joseph (Elizabeth) and Stephen (Nora); three nieces and one nephew; and four grandnieces and two grandnephews.

A funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. on Friday, Nov. 7, at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church, 133 Pleasant St., Portland. Burial will be at Old Calvary Cemetery, 1461 Broadway, South Portland. To view Frances’ memorial Page or to leave a condolence, please visit http://www.ConroyTullyWalker.com.