Clyde Aubrey Formby

Clyde Aubrey Formby, 86 years of age, passed peacefully after a short illness on Thursday, June 2, 2022 with his loving daughter, Debra Griffith, by his side as he took the hand of Jesus and entered life eternal.

Clyde was born on July 13, 1935 in San Antonio, Texas to the late Dorothea Jones Formby and John Aubrey Formby, who divorced during his younger years. At age eleven he moved to Dunlap, TN with his mother and step-father Edward Hobbs, and then returned to San Antonio after finishing high school. He captured the attention of many with his tales of jumping off the mountain into the trees below, squirrel hunting, and many other adventures in a small mountain town.

Clyde met Iris Toalson at the Poteet Strawberry Festival in 1955 and they married 4 months later. In November 1956 they welcomed a daughter, Debra, and then son Michael arrived in February 1958. In 1974 the family moved to Houston and in 1981, after 26 years of marriage, Clyde lost Iris to pancreatic cancer. Clyde was her rock and she said his faith helped her accept her fate with firm knowledge of her place in Heaven.

In 1984, Clyde married Cherry Glenn who he met through mutual friends. She too had lost her spouse to cancer. Cherry had a son (Michael Glenn) and daughter (Amy Glenn Summars) the same age as Clyde’s children and it was a union blessed from the beginning. After 26 years of marriage (12 as retirees in Marble Falls, TX), Clyde lost Cherry to cancer.

Clyde stayed in Marble Falls until 2017 when he moved to the Houston area, then Rockport, TX to be near Debra and her husband Steve Griffith. Father and daughter developed a very special bond and Debra feels blessed to have had 6 quality years being so involved in his life. He was loved by many friends and had a unique character all his own, with his little quips, great listening skills, compassion for others and fun ways that made the ladies and care givers at his independent living facility adore him.

Clyde spent his entire career of 47 years in television broadcasting – from the days of only 3 TV stations, performances being filmed “live” on set at KSAT, from black and white to color, and other huge advancements.

He began in the art department at age 20 and for decades was instrumental in designing the newscaster’s set and background. While at KSAT in San Antonio he covered the gamut of positions from cameraman, to operations and then production manager.

In 1974 Clyde moved the family to Houston where he became operations manager for Channel 39, (the CW) and became an expert in F.C.C. compliance and programming. In 1983 Clyde took a special assignment in Austin where he was instrumental in the start-up of KBVO and the construction of the new facility and broadcasting operations.

The last thirteen years of his television career were spent with Heritage Media (now News Corporation/Fox) that owned numerous stations across the U.S. As Corporate Programming Director he used market analysis and viewership ratings to make decisions about the programming line-up for each market.

One “benefit” of his career in television broadcasting was attendance at annual conferences where producers vied to sell their movies and TV series to programming executives like Clyde. Not only did Iris and Cherry attend these conferences with Clyde, they got to meet and take photos with famous television stars of their time – quite exciting for small town gals!

Despite not having a college degree, Clyde had a long successful career. He went to seminary at night and took a few other college courses but never graduated. He loved acquiring knowledge. He was extremely well read and absolutely loved reading sci-fi, westerns, astronomy, religion and the origins of planets. He was a friend to all, especially the every-day people he met at the bookstore, pharmacy, restaurants, and those he helped when they were ill or in need.

Clyde was deeply cherished by his children Debra Griffith and Michael Formby, step-children Michael Glenn and Amy Summars, younger half-siblings and their families in Tennessee (Eddie Hobbs, Stephen Hobbs and Marlene Basham), 5 grandchildren and 5 great-grandchildren.

He leaves a strong legacy with sweet memories and faith that we will reunite again.