William Cecil Bybee

W. Cecil Bybee, though born in Idabel, Oklahoma on August, 11 1933 to William Jennings Bryan Bybee and Mary Lula Watts Bybee, was truly a son of West Texas. A man of humble beginnings, he was nurtured and educated in Texas. Before graduating from Slaton High School where he was quarterback of the football team, he ran a taxi stand, pumped gas, had a paper route, picked cotton, drove spikes for the railroad, was a car hop for A & W Root Beer, and stood on a bottle crate to be tall enough to work the assembly line for the RC bottling company.

Cecil worked as a telegraph operator for the Santa Fe Railroad, followed by service to his country as a Corporal in the U. S. Army, married his wife of 57 years, Helen Joyce Hollowell, and put himself through Texas Tech where he received a degree in Accounting.

His accomplishments were many, his generosity great. He and his family moved to Midland and he and John Grimland formed the public accounting firm of Grimland and Bybee. A partner in KPMG CPA Firm in Midland, El Paso, New York and Chicago; he was a National Director of Practice Development and served as Chair of their Extracting Industries and Oil and Gas Divisions. He also served on the Boards of Directors of the Midland County United Way, the Midland Chamber of Commerce, the Arthritis Foundation, the Museum of the Southwest, and served on the National Board of the Boy Scouts of America.

He is survived by his devoted wife, Helen; two loving daughters, Luretta Bybee of Boston and Laura Bybee Rubinstein of Los Angeles; his granddaughters, Emma Grimsley, Hannah and Jenna Rubinstein; his sons-in-law, Greer Grimsley and Mitchell Rubinstein – whom he loved like his own sons; his brother, Bob Bybee and his wife, Sue, their children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, and his nephews Royce and Shauna Bybee.

For the friends and family who were told services would be at First United Methodist Church, the Bybee/Hollowell family, having had a long and blessed history there, is sad to say that the senior minister was unable to accommodate the family’s wishes. They are honored instead, to hold his memorial service at Hospice of Midland Inspiration Center at 4629 Andrews Highway at 11:00am on Saturday, December 10, 2011. The family asks that memorial donations be made to Hospice of Midland (P.O. Box 2621, Midland, Texas 79702) or the American Cancer Society (2304 West Wadley, Midland, Texas 79705).