Patricia Priour Byfield

Patricia Byfield, longtime resident of Austin, passed away peacefully on Wednesday, February 12, 2014. She was predeceased by her husband, George Daniel Byfield of Austin, five sisters, Edna Beynon, Rowena Cumings, Hazel Garwood, Blanche McNeill, Dora Parks, and a brother, Clarence Priour.

She was born April 7, 1923, to Clarence Reine Priour and Henrietta Laughton, a pioneer family of Corpus Christi, Texas She attended Corpus Christi High School where she was a member of the high school tennis team, an officer in student council, and an honors graduate in 1940.

She studied Home Economics at The University of Texas at Austin before marrying George Daniel Byfield of Corpus Christi on February 1, 1942. When he enlisted in the Air Force, she followed him to each air base until he sailed for Europe. He jokingly said that he expected her to swim behind the boat.

George practiced law in Laredo with Mann & Byfield; in McAllen at Ewers, Toothaker, Talbot, & Byfield; he then joined McGinnis, Lochridge, Kilgore, Byfield, Hunter & Wilson in Austin from 1967 until his death in 1979.

Pat, George, and their youngest children played tennis every week and Pat and George loved to travel and to renovate old homes. She loved spending time with her children and grandchildren, collecting antiques, gardening, and crocheting.

She was a founding member of the EJ Chapter of the International P.E.O. Sisterhood in Austin, and a lifetime member of the United States Tennis Association.

She is survived by her four children, Patsy Jeanne German and husband Gene German of Richardson, Texas; Pamela Byfield Boyd and husband William Boyd III of Kingwood, Texas; George Anne Byfield of Austin, Texas; and Daniel Merritt Byfield and wife Margaret of Georgetown, Texas; her eleven grandchildren, Geoffrey German, Amy Boyd Rudd, William Boyd IV, Callie Chalmers Ryan, George Boyd, Amber Byfield Pollei, Richard Chalmers, James Chalmers, Aubrey Byfield Stopa, Britton Byfield, and McKenzy Byfield; seven great-grandchildren; and countless nieces, nephews, cousins, and longtime friends.

By her choice, there will be no services; a private celebration of life will be held at a later date. The family would like to thank the staff of Emeritus Spicewood Springs of Austin, and her special caregivers, Norma Melo and Audrey Palomino.

In lieu of flowers, she requested that contributions be made to The American Diabetes Association and The National Multiple Sclerosis Society of Texas.