Biography:

Byford Gayle Sealy, the only child of Carl and Lurline Sealy was born on February 19, 1926 in Waxahachie, Texas. He died on July 21, 2005 in Andrews. Funeral Services will be 2:00 P.M. Sunday, July 26, 2005, at the Andrews Church of Christ. Officiating will be Minister Mark Wilson, and Moody Conner. Burial will follow in the Andrews Old Cemetery under the direction of McNett Funeral Home.

He is survived by his wife Jo Ann of the home, one son Scott Sealy and his wife Gloria of Andrews; two daughters-Gayle Schultz and her husband John of Houston, Texas, and their children Shauna Schultz of Dallas, Texas and Jason Schultz of San Diego, California; Keri Wientjes and her husband Ross of Mound City, South Dakota, and their children, Payton, Pearson, Reece and Channing. He was pre-deceased by his parents and a son Michael Neil Sealy, who died in an automobile accident the day after he finished his junior year at Texas Christian University.

Byford and his parents moved to Andrews in 1929 and Byford graduated from Andrews High School in 1942. He was baptized at the age of 13 in a dirt tank about 10 miles north of Andrews. He attended John Tarleton Agricultural College for one year and then enlisted in the Marine Corps at the age of seventeen in 1943 at Marine Recruit Depot in San Diego. Basic training was at Camp Pendleton in California. He served as a machine-gunner on Saipan and Okinawa, an as an MP in the occupation of Japan in Nagasaki after the atom bomb was dropped. He returned home in 1947 and attended what is now the University of North Texas, earning a Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree in Music in 1951. He then became the band director in Hawkins for one year before re-entering the Marine Corps as an officer in 1952. While in Hawkins he was also the tuba player in the East Texas Symphony. He was a naval gun spotter in Korea for about 6 to 7 months. He returned to the U.S. and was stationed at Norfolk, Virginia.

Upon leaving the Marine Corps as a captain in 1955, he entered the Federal Bureau of Investigation as a Special Agent in Washington D.C. and Chicago, Illinois.

Byford and his family returned to Andrews in 1957 for him to go into the abstract business with his father. After returning to Andrews where he served on the City Council as Mayor, he served as a board member of the Andrews Independent School District. He was a member of the Andrews Industrial Foundation and was on the Board of Directors of the West Texas Chamber of Commerce.

Byford met his wife Jo Ann while they were both playing in the Midland-Odessa Symphony Orchestra, where he played tuba and she played French horn. Jo Ann attended West Texas State University on a music scholarship given by the Amarillo Symphony Orchestra, in which she played French horn. Byford and Jo Ann were married on September 27, 1969. Byford has reflected that Jo Ann is comparable to the wife described in Proverbs 31:10-31 and has said that she has all of the good characteristics of that wife.

Byford has lost his long battle with cancer — having had treatment for the past 18 years.

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