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Fine Baby Boy
Mr. and Mrs. T. R. McAfee are the proud parents of a fine baby boy
born Wednesday afternoon at 2 o'clock at the County Hosptial. Mother
and baby are reported doing fine and the little fellow weighted 8
pounds on arrival
Corsicana Daily Sun - Sept 1, 1926
Kenneth McAfee Is NTSTC Class
Officer
DENTON, Oct.
14. - (Spl.) - in recent class elections on the campus of North Texas
State Teachers College, Kenneth McAfee of Corsicana was chosen
reporter of the freshman class.
Interest ran
high in the annual elections, which saw three men and one co-ed
chosen to lead the various classes. Miss Quida Owen, Malakoff,
junior class head, is the firs co-ed to win presidential post in
recent campus history.
McAfee is the
son of Mr. and Mrs. T. R. McAfee of Corsicana.
The Corsicana
Daily Sun - Thursday, October 14, 1943
Notes:
The Corsicana Semi-Weekly Light - November 14, 1944
OBITUARY
 William Kenneth “Bill” McAfee
Tuesday, June 20, 2023
Bill (William Kenneth) McAfee died in hospice care in his home on
Tuesday, June 20, 2023 with loved ones surrounding him. He was 96.
Born in Corsicana in 1926, he was the youngest of five children. His
parents were Terry Reno McAfee and Maggie Kerr McAfee. He was
preceded in death by his beloved wife Anne in 2013; his sister
Marie; his brother Milton; his brother Hugh; and his brother
Garrett, who was killed during World War II.
Bill is survived by his five children: Susan McAfee Raybuck (Perry)
of Wimberley, Mark McAfee (Diji) of Austin, Karen Kate McAfee
Campbell (Greg) of Austin, Laura McAfee O’Neill of Austin, and Nancy
McAfee Dyer
(Allan) of Medina.
He also is survived by 12 grandchildren: David, Abby, Sean,
Adrienne, Adele, Kaela, Kevin, Emerson, Garrett, Kenny, Jeff, and
Sarah; 17 great-grandchildren (and counting!), and many beloved
nieces, nephews, and extended family.
The Great Depression had a huge impact on Bill’s life, as his father
was out of work for four long years. The family was evicted twice
during that terrible period, and Bill said that was an experience
that no one should ever have to face, as you never leave it far
behind.
Bill got a job as a printer’s devil (apprentice) at the age of 13 in
a small Corsicana printing shop. When the National Guard was
mobilized only a few months later, the two men who worked there were
suddenly called up. Bill, who had a high aptitude for anything
mechanical and was very well organized, was soon able to run
multiple presses and fill the needs of the shop while also being a
school student. Bill became an essential employee to the print
shop’s owner, Paget Marr, and the owner became a close friend and
mentor to Bill.
Bill was double-promoted twice in school and graduated at the age of
16. He graduated in a class of two students from Kerens High School.
Because it was wartime, his graduating class consisted of only two
students and Bill loved to joke that he was neither the
Valedictorian nor the Salutatorian. He worked in the Summer of 1943
for the Waxahachie Daily News, then moved to Denton to enroll at
North Texas State Teachers College that Fall. He was a volunteer in
the Denton fire department, gaining himself a free room in the
firehouse. He also worked as a printer at both the NTSTC Press and
at the daily newspaper, The Denton Record Chronicle.
His two older brothers, both in the Army, encouraged Bill to join
the Navy rather than waiting to be drafted into the Army. However,
the Army was the only major service branch open as he approached his
18th birthday in 1944, so he joined the Merchant Marines instead.
After basic training he was sent to radio school. With his high
aptitude for math and physics, he soon became a Radio Officer,
attaining the rank of Ensign, and served in both the Atlantic and
Pacific.
Bill was on a Liberty ship heading from Antwerp to Kyushu for the
invasion of Japan, carrying a full load of ammo, large and small,
when the atomic bombs were dropped and the Japanese surrendered.
Bill liked to say, "They heard I was coming and they just gave in."
Bill's ship was then given new orders to take supplies to occupied
Japan. He spent many months in occupied Japan and learned to speak
some basic Japanese.
Although more merchant seamen were killed or seriously wounded
than in any other branch of service, they weren’t acknowledged or
included in the GI Bill until 1988. By then Bill was 62 years of
age.
After the war Bill worked for The Dallas Morning News and The Dallas
Times-Herald, and also for The San Antonio Express and The San
Antonio Light. In 1949 when he enrolled at UT, his first Austin job
was as
foreman of the typesetting department at The Daily Texan; later he
worked for The American-Statesman.
A good friend and fellow student set Bill up on a blind date with
Anne
Castleberry, also a UT student, who would become his wife of 61
years.
After an almost 2-year courtship, Bill and Anne were married in
1952,
and became parents in 1953. Anne’s large extended family in South
Austin played a big role in their courtship and married life.
Bill volunteered to help his friend Mark Adams print the first
issues of
The Texas Observer. A few years later when Mark decided to leave
Austin, Bill bought Mark’s small print shop on South First Street,
which
later became known as Futura Press, Inc. Futura printed The Texas
Observer for many years until Bill retired in 1992. For several
years
Futura Press was the only 100% union printer Texas: Futura's
typesetters, pressmen, bookbinders, secretaries, and delivery people
were all union members. Bill took great pride in Futura and had a
special bond with his employees who remained close friends
throughout his life.
In addition to being a printing shop, Futura also published The
Austin
Times, Go-Austin!, and The Jet Gazette among several other
newspapers, magazines, and books. His wife Anne was the editor for
The Austin Times. When the Post Office introduced Zip Codes in 1967,
Futura added data processing and mailing services to its activities,
eventually spinning off a new company - Futura Systems - that also
sold computers and developed custom software for his customers.
Bill enjoyed the computer business and wrote many software programs
for clients. The business grew rapidly, and the client demands kept
Bill
and two full-time programmers in a perpetual bind. Ultimately Bill
designed and wrote a complex system of more than 28,000 lines of
code that would interpret a small file of simple English
instructions and,
without any further programming, it would perform any jobs required
of the data center.
Bill was an avid reader, interested in everything, and was a student
of
history, public policy, and economics. Although he was a successful
businessman for some forty years, he always considered himself a
Socialist, probably due to his memories and experiences during the
Great Depression. He simply believed that life could and should be
better for everyone and strived to make that happen. He and Anne
were devoted regular attendees of "the Saturday meeting", a.k.a. "Saturday Sages", a.k.a.
"Yeller Dawg Democrats" where they found
kindred spirits and dear friends.
Bill cared deeply about the environment, democracy, and that people
had enough to eat. For those who may want to make a gift in his
memory, the family suggests The Nature Conservancy, Common Cause,
the Central Texas Food Bank, or the nonprofit of your choice.
A celebration of his life will begin at 1 p.m. on July 8 at his
home.
To share a memory or send a condolence gift, please visit the
Official Obituary of William Kenneth McAfee hosted by ATX Cremation. |
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Navarro County TXGenWeb