Michael P. O’Byrne

Michael Patrick O’Byrne passed tragically at 30 years young, from this earth and into eternal life and the hands of Christ on August, 19, 2022, while living in San Diego, California.

Michael was born on August 10, 1992, in Kansas City, Missouri. He attended Visitation Catholic School and Rockhurst High School where he established lifelong friendships.

A happy, gentle child, Michael enjoyed the companionship of his two sisters and was lovingly adored by his parents. Always a trio of trouble, the three siblings enjoyed growing up together on Sunset Drive and then 69 th Street where you could find them at Arno Park playing kickball, climbing trees and engaging in friendly pranks throughout the neighborhood.

A collector of model cars, foreign coins, Pokémon and baseball cards, he cherished the little joys in life. Michael loved anything with wheels, from playing with his electric cars as a kid to his longboard and hand-built gas scooter as a teen. You would always see him riding throughout Brookside to meet his friends. You could also catch him in the kitchen creating unique, but delicious food concoctions, on the patio as the family grill-master, devouring a bowl of steamy chili on Chiefs Sundays or enjoying a melted pint of ice cream, particularly of the bubblegum or rainbow sherbet variety.

Michael loved the outdoors and being among nature’s presence. Whether that be camping and hiking in the wilderness, park-hangs and frisbee at Loose Park, or casual walks with his mother and other loved ones. He had a deep appreciation for the ocean and the beach-side atmosphere, especially boogie-boarding and parasailing along the beaches of Puerto Vallarta, deep-sea fishing with his father and canoeing with classmates in the Ozarks. Always the free-spirit, he had a love of travel and adventure. This, along with his draw to the ocean, led Michael to spend much of his adult life in sunny California.

Michael will be remembered for his kind-hearted nature, his thoughtful and gentle spirit and his amazing ability to listen to others. He was always willing to befriend a stranger and to help those in need. He was truly a friend to all. Michael was a child at heart and enjoyed entertaining his younger cousins with his goofy antics and quirky sense of humor. Michael’s life was a precious gift to his family for 30 wonderful years and he will be missed immensely by his loved ones.

Michael is survived by his parents, Chauna (Hart) O’Byrne of Leawood, Kansas; Patrick O’Byrne of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico; sister Molly (O’Byrne) Harman, brother-in-law Luke Harman and niece Grace Harman of Dublin, Ireland; sister Kelly O’Byrne and her partner Joe Mancewicz of Denver, Colorado; maternal grandparents Arthur and Jeannine Hart of Little Rock, Arkansas; paternal grandmother Mary Jo O’Byrne of Prairie Village, Kansas; and many aunts, uncles and cousins. He is preceded in death by his cousin Kyle Messerli and his paternal grandfather, Robert D. O’Byrne.

A funeral mass will be held at Visitation Catholic Church in Kansas City, MO at 12:00 pm on Wednesday, August 31, 2022. For those unable to attend in person, the mass will be live streamed on
https://youtu.be/-jrPlBRT8E0

In lieu of flowers, Michael’s family requests that donations be offered to the Bodhi House
(http://ahh.org/).    Assistance by Funeral Advocates, LLC.