Bayard Spence Wilson

Bayard Spence Wilson was born April 5, 1931 at Higgins, Texas. He died September 23, 2019 at Austin. As he requested, his body was cremated without public ceremony. His ashes will rest beside his mother, Virginia Irene Spence Wilson Barnes, and his aunt, Margaret Pauline Spence Patton, over the graves of his grandparents Dr. Samuel Edgar Spence and Minnie Jane Prince Spence at Austin Memorial Park Cemetery.

Bayard is survived by son Robert Kelly, his wife Wende Jackson of Portland, Oregon, daughter Nancy Garrison, son-in-law Dan Garrison of Austin, grandchildren Samuel and Tucker Garrison of Austin, brother Roland Wilson of Kyle, niece Linda Wilson Creekmore of Buda, nephew Mark Wilson of Ajijic, Mexico, and niece Jo Ann Wilson Scott of Mazatlan, Mexico.

After starting school in Palestine, Texas, Bayard Wilson moved to Austin with his family in 1940 where he attended Wooldridge School, Pease School, University Junior High School, and Austin High School. In 1946 he moved to Albany, California where he graduated Albany High School in June 1948. In September 1949 Bayard entered Santa Rosa Junior College at Santa Rosa, Cali-fornia where he earned an A.A. degree in 1951. He then transferred to the University of Cali-fornia at Berkeley where he earned the degrees B.S. (with honors) 1953, M.S. 1955, and Ph.D. 1958 all in Civil Engineering. At Berkeley, he was Irving and Lucile Smith Scholar in Engineer-ing for academic years 1955-57.

In fall 1957 Dr. Bayard Wilson began a teaching career in the Department of Engineering Me-chanics at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas where he rose to the rank of Associate Professor. In 1962 he moved to Seattle, Washington where he was Associate Professor of Civil Engineering at the University of Washington. During his academic career, he was elected to the following honorary societies: Chi Epsilon (Civil Engineering), Sigma Xi (Scientific), Phi Beta Kappa (Academic), Tau Beta Pi (Engineering).

In 1964 Bayard moved back to Austin to join Tracor, Inc. as Senior Engineer/Scientist. He was on the 3-man team that proposed and won the initial R&D contract for the AN-ALE29, an elec-tronic countermeasures device for military aircraft. He then became the first Project Engineer for that program. In the ensuing years, the AN-ALE29 was widely used on military aircraft throughout the Free World. After resigning from Tracor in 1966, he formed a company doing business as Wilco Construction Co., Inc, and in 1970 he opened a motorcycle shop doing busi-ness as Wilco Honda.

After selling his motorcycle business to the late Paul Woods in 1975, Bayard retired from busi-ness. While in his early 30’s in Seattle he began weight training which he did regularly until his last few years. Bayard was a member of the Texas Athletic Club and the Hyde Park Gym in Austin where he made many long-time friends. He was a member of the Fair Oaks San Juan Li-ons Club in Fair Oaks, California where he was honored as Lion of the Year and was awarded a special commendation for Community Service by the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors in 1991.

Stemming from his student days at Berkeley, Bayard renewed his interest in computers in 1987 when he purchased his first of many Personal Computers. He created and managed data bases for both his Austin and Albany High School classes. In addition to his own web site, he also created and managed several web sites for friends in Austin. His computer interests extended to digital photography, and he especially enjoyed taking pictures of his grandchildren Sam and Tucker. He saved tens of thousands of pictures on his computer hard drive.

Bayard Wilson was devoted to his family, particularly to his son and daughter and to his grand-children with whom he spent many happy hours on “Grandpa Days” with Sam and Tucker when they were small children. His friends and family will always remember his engaging personality. He brought joy to everyone he met as he always took pictures with old and new friends. He lived life to the fullest. In recent years, he enjoyed regularly meeting friends at McDonalds and at HEB for coffee and conversation. He will be missed. We are extremely grateful to Seton Hospi-tal and Dr. Sarah Mills with Palliative Care.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorial con-tributions to The Seton Fund via website (supportseton.org) or mail 1345 Philomena Street Ste. 400 Austin, Texas 78723 or Hospice Austin (www.hospiceaustin.org/donation-form) 4107 Spicewood Springs Road, Suite 100, Austin, Texas 78759.