Billy Philip "Bill" Arhos

ARHOS, BILLY PHILIP "BILL" (November 3, 1934 ~ April 11, 2015) Bill Arhos was born in Teague, Freestone County, Texas, to Philip A. Arhos and Helen Bournias Arhos. In 1941 the family moved to Bryan, Texas, where Bill attended Bryan Public Schools and graduated from Stephen F. Austin High School in 1953.

From 1953 to 1957, Bill attended Rice University (then Rice Institute) on a baseball and basketball scholarship and graduated with a Bachelor of Science Degree in 1957. In April 1955, Bill pitched against the University of Texas at old Clark field and defeated them four to two in 10 innings, becoming only the fifth Rice pitcher at that time to do so. He earned a Master of Education Degree from Texas A&M in 1960 and taught in the Bryan public schools in 1959 and 1960.

In 1961 Bill was employed to help establish Austin's PBS Station, KLRU-TV, known then as KLRN, which also served the City of San Antonio. The two stations, which signed on in September of 1962, have been separate since 1986. He spent his entire broadcasting career at KLRU, retiring April 1, 2000. During his long years of service to KLRU, Bill served in many capacities, including Senior Producer, Production Manager, Vice-President for Programming, General Manager, and President. He also taught television production at The University of Texas at Austin.

In 1974, Bill Arhos, Paul Bosner, and Bruce Scafe produced a pilot program featuring Willie Nelson for a PBS music television series, which became the popular, nationally distributed series, Austin City Limits. This year marks the 41tst consecutive season of the show on PBS. Numerous Austin City Limits programs have been committed to Compact Disc and videotape for home personal use. The series has garnered several prestigious awards, including the National Medal of Arts, the Peabody Award and the W. C. Handy Blues Award. Bill Arhos served as Executive Producer for the series through 1999, its 24th season.

Mr. Arhos served as Executive Producer for more than 15 television music specials seen nationwide on PBS. He and C. Paul Corbin, Director of Programming for the Nashville Network (TNN), originated a KLRU produced series, The Texas Connection, which was telecast on TNN for four consecutive years. In 1989, Mr. Arhos was elected to the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) Board of Directors and re-elected in 1992, serving in that capacity for six years. In 1992, Mr. Arhos was elected to a two-year term to serve on the Board of Directors of the Country Music Association (CMA). Upon his retirement, KLRU-TV established an endowment in his name.

In 2007 Mr. Arhos received a Distinguished Alumni Award from Rice University, for his numerous accomplishments in television. In 2014, Bill was an inaugural inductee into the Austin City Limits Hall of Fame, alongside Willie Nelson, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and former University of Texas football coach, Darrell Royal.

Mr. Arhos is survived by three children: Leslie Lucas and husband, Christopher Lucas; Laura Jenkins and husband Craig Jenkins; Damon Arhos and partner Mark Peppler; six grandchildren: Stephen Jeffrey, Michelle Jeffrey, Jeremy Lucas, Amy Hauck, Mandy Harris, and Anna Harris; four great-grandchildren; sister Virginia Hardy and husband Wilson Hardy; his beloved Irish Water Spaniel, Danny Boy; numerous nieces, nephews, colleagues and friends.

The family would like to thank Dr. Donald Counts; Dr. Matthew Stahlman; Dr. David Pohl; Dr. Lux, Dr. Anderson and the wonderful staff at St. David's Hospital Round Rock; Sarah Janosek and Hospice Compassus; Ariel Rosenbaum and Texas Family Services; Tammye, Juvy and the outstanding team at Wyoming Springs Assisted Living; Terry Lickona, Susan Caldwell, Scott Ragland, and all of the friends and caregivers who remained present and active in his life to the end.

Visitation will be held at Weed Corley Fish Funeral Home at 3125 North Lamar, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. on Thursday, April 16. Mr. Arhos will be interred at the Texas State Cemetery in a private service. A public celebration of his life will be held at Austin City Limits Live, Moody Theater, on Saturday, April 18, at 3:00 p.m.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to the Bill Arhos Fund at KLRU, or to the canine rescue organization of your choice.