William (“Bill”) Maxwell Soyars passed away on July 2, 2019 at the age of 93 years. He was born on April 15, 1926 in Edinburg, Texas, where his father was a coach in the school system. His parents were Erwin and Bernice Soyars both being graduates of Southwest Texas State Teachers College (“SWT”), now Texas State University, in San Marcos. Bill was the second son and later joined by a sister, both of whom have predeceased him. Bill’s roots were deep at SWT, Dr. C.E. Evans, Bill’s maternal grandfather, was the President of SWT for 32 years. Bill remembered his maternal grandmother letting the grandkids skate in the attic of the then President’s home on the Hill.
The family eventually moved to Sabinal, Texas, where his father farmed and ranched. Bill and his brother rode horseback 8 miles roundtrip to a one room school several miles away called Trio School. The family later moved into the town of Sabinal where the children all went to school. Bill excelled in sports, especially football. After graduation, Bill hitchhiked to College Station to enroll in Texas A&M. Bill was able to play on the Aggie Varsity team as a walk on. Up until 2008, that team was the only Aggie team to ever play in the Orange Bowl. This team was called the “Kiddie Korps” because many of the upper classman athletes had already been drafted into the military for World War II leaving only the underclassman.
However, Uncle Sam had other plans for Bill and he was drafted into the Air Force his sophomore year and served in Italy the last 6 months of World War II. After the war was over and he returned home to Sabinal he rekindled a romance with one of his high school sweethearts, Mary Howard, and they married on April 20, 1946. Bill went back to A&M to play football and finish his degree. The Government was paying all GI’s to return to school and get their educations, but the living expenses were very high. Their first son, William (“Little Bill”) Howard Soyars, was born in Bryan, Texas on July 15, 1947, and a second son, Thomas (“Tom”) Erwin Soyars being born on May 8, 1950. Bill sold watermelons to pay the hospital and he made & sold leather belts with Mary putting the finishing touches on them with the dye.
