Byers, William Bowling, 1920-

William Bowling "Bo" Byers was born in 1920 in Miami, Missouri. After moving to Austin to live with an aunt and uncle, Byers graduated from Austin High School in 1936 and the University of Texas at Austin in 1941, where he received a Bachelor of Journalism degree. His first news story appeared in the Austin American-Statesman in December 1932.

Byers volunteered for the Army Air Corps and was inducted in September 1942. He flew 30 missions as a B-17 navigator in the 351st Bomb Group, 8th Air Force, England, and was separated from service in September 1945. He worked for the Marshall News-Messenger and received a fellowship to teach journalism at UT, but left the fellowship after one semester to join the Associated Press Capitol Bureau in Austin, for whom he worked for 10 years. He joined the Houston Chronicle 's Austin Bureau in 1957, became bureau chief in 1961, and continued reporting, writing, and directing the bureau until his retirement in 1983. He then went on to report at the state government level, and also served as a deacon and elder in Central Presbyterian Church as well as five years on the City of Austin Parks and Recreation board.

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