Bio of LYON, John Dexter (b.1875), Hennepin Co., MN
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EXTRACTED FROM: History of Minneapolis, Gateway to the Northwest; 
Chicago-Minneapolis, The S J Clarke Publishing Co, 1923; Edited by: Rev. 
Marion Daniel Shutter, D.D., LL.D.; Volume I - Shutter (Historical); 
volume II - Biographical; volume III - Biographical
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Vol. II, Pg 807-808
JOHN DEXTER LYON, M. D.
To be a physician to the communal mind and public heart is Dr. John Dexter
Lyon's ideal of the medical man's vocation. In the ten years he has been a
practicing physician in Minneapolis he has ever worked toward this goal, thereby
attaining a distinctive place both in his profession and in the life of the
city.
John Dexter Lyon was born in the state of Iowa, March 3, 1875, the son of
Charles H. and Sarah J. (Tiffy) Lyon. The father was a veteran of the Civil war,
having served in the Union army as a private in Company A, First Iowa Cavalry.
He enlisted soon after the first call for volunteers was issued and fought
throughout the war. He was a man gifted with the ability to inspire others; that
was the principal legacy he left to his children and it fortified his son, John
Dexter Lyon, in his struggle to work his way through school and college to
ultimate success. This son grew up on the home farm and attended the country
school near by. After graduating from the high school at Dexter, Iowa, he taught
school somewhat irregularly, in this way earning the money to put himself
through the State Teachers' College at Cedar Falls, Iowa. For four years he
taught as principal of various high schools in his native state, after which he
went to Chicago to take up the study of medicine at Northwestern University and
was graduated from its Medical School with the M. D. degree, in the class of
1904. He practiced in Iowa for nine years following the completion of his
medical course, then settled permanently in Minneapolis, where he has occupied
the same office, No. 530 Syndicate building, since his arrival. Outside of his
large practice Dr. Lyon lectures on physiology and anatomy at St. Barnabas
Hospital Training School. He also belongs to the Hennepin County Medical
Society, the Minnesota State and American Medical associations.
In 1904 Dr. Lyon married Miss Mae Ferris of Dubuque, Iowa, who taught in the
schools of that city for seven years. They have three children: John Dexter,
Jr., Myrle C. and Ruth S.
With Dr. Lyon it is an axiom that a physician, because of his specialized
education and contact with the people, should interest himself in the general
welfare of the community, with full loyalty to its interests. And because of
that high interpretation of his duty, he gives his time and energies freely to
the promotion of good causes. He is a member of the Parents & Teachers Council
of Minneapolis, and was president of that body in 1921. He is an earnest worker
in that organization, while his earlier experience in the teaching profession
himself gives him unusual insight into the problems the school administration
has to face. As a member of the executive committee of this council he helps in
the publication of their bulletins. A gifted and pleasing speaker, Dr. Lyon is
frequently asked to address welfare meetings and gatherings for the purpose of
discussing questions of public interest. He has taken an active part in the
controversy over the proposed amendments to the city charter, but has advocated
a new charter as preferable to patching up the old one. He was one of the
energetic members of the charter committee that brought Dr. A. R. Hatton to
Minneapolis in 1922 to help draw up a new charter. Likewise he was one of the
original committee, the chief purpose of which was to insure that school and
library amendments were passed, and no one worked harder nor more persistently
than he to put them through. But while Dr. Lyon is indefatigable in his efforts
for the social and civic betterment, he is in no sense a politician and would
not for a minute consider an elective office.
Dr. Lyon's name appears on the list of the seventeen original founders of the
Commonwealth Club, and in January, 1923, he was elected president of that
organization. His membership in the Lincoln Club indicates that he is a
republican in political views. In the Masonic fraternity he is a member of Ark
Lodge, F. & A. M.; Ark Chapter, R. A. M.; Ark Mounted Commandery, Knights
Templars; and Zuhrah Temple of the Mystic Shrine. He belongs to Wesley Methodist
Episcopal church and is a member of its official board. For three years he was
superintendent of the Sunday school and is now teacher of the Young Men's Bible
class. In 1922 he was appointed on the "Better Minneapolis" committee, by the
board organized and authorized to name one hundred people to be known as the
"Committee of One Hundred."