This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: Byars Classification: Obituary Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/UaB.2ACI/788 Message Board Post: Verle Wayne 'Fred' Byars Services for Verle Wayne 'Fred' Byars, 80, Merkel, Texas, were held Tuesday, March 18 at 2:00 p.m. at North's Memorial Chapel with Karl King officiating. Interment was at the Stith Cemetery, under the direction of North's Funeral Home. He was born to James Edgar and Ethel Ivy Byars in Sulphur. He died Saturday, March 15, 2003 in Merkel, TX. In April, 1942 he married Lucille Clark. Mr. Byars was a graduate of Sulphur High School. He was in the Army and stationed at Camp Barkley with the 45th Division. He was the youngest master sargeant in the service at 19 years old. While waiting to go overseas, he joined the Army Air Force. He spent two and a half years as bombardier instructor at Carlsbad, N.M., followed by four months combat service on Tinian Island. He was a Captain when discharged January 14, 1946. Before entering the service, Mr. Byars was a proofreader and reporter on the Sulphur, Oklahoma Daily News. He attended Hardin-Simmons University and worked towards a Masters Degree in accounting. He was senior accountant for the Harte Hanks Newspapers for 22 years. He retired in 1984. He was a member of the Baker Heights Church of Christ and the Merkel Historical Society. He was in several public, civic and religious organizations. He is survived by his wife, Martha Lucille Byars, Merkel, Texas; one son, Dennis Michael Byars and his wife, Barbara, Dallas, Texas; one daughter, Sylvia Karen Davis and her husband, Hank, Abilene, Texas; four grandchildren, Darren Davis and his wife, Mandy, Damon Byars and his wife, Terrie, Marlee Davis White, and Dow Davis; 10 great-grandchildren, Joshua Byars, Kylie Byars, Garett Byars, Devyn Byars, Drew Byars, Dayton and Daylee White, Rachel and Zoe Davis, Callie Peterson; one brother, James Edgar Byars, Mabank, Texas; one sister, Ruth Mildred Tabor, Dallas, Texas. Memorials may be made to the Stith Cemetery (Cannon) Memorial, Stith, Texas 79536 or Keys of the Kingdom (Merkel Church of Christ), Merkel, Texas 79536.