Beryl Curtis Kern

Beryl Curtis (BC) Kern was born March 9, 1924 in Ardmore, Oklahoma to Walter Bunyan Kern and Autie Estelle McCollum. A younger brother named Billy Barker Kern also joined the family. Theirs was a life of movement, characterized by the times (i.e. Dust Bowl & the Great Depression) as their father tried to make ends meet through various business ventures. As a result, the family resided in multiple places in southern Oklahoma, north and west Texas. Frequent movement would also characterize BC's adult life. Over his lifetime he moved many, many times-- residing in homes, apartments, condos, RVs and even an aircraft hangar.

Friends and family are invited to come and celebrate the life of Mr. Kern Wednesday, September 24, 2014 at 3 in the afternoon in the Cherry Drawing Room at Bluebonnet Hills Funeral Home 5725 Colleyville Blvd, Colleyville, Texas 76034.

His early life was spent in the small town atmosphere of farms, general stores, and local hotels. Childhood drawings and doodles of soldiers and airplanes were predictive of the direction his life would soon take. WW II began and at 18 he joined the Army Air Corp and became a gunner and ordnance loader (i.e. bombs). While he did not learn to fly in the service, he was exposed to all the aircraft he supported and determined he would learn to fly. His assignment found him stationed on Tinian Island in the western Pacific where he was witness to the Enola Gay bomber that carried Little Boy and Fat Man atomic bombs to their targets in Japan.

With the A-Bombs, the war suddenly ended and BC was able to start pursuing his dreams outside of Rural America. Returning veterans were given assistance by the government and BC took advantage of the opportunities by becoming a student at Tarleton State Junior College and later on, Texas A&M, studying geology. While at TSJC he joined the fencing team. Fencing must have been in his genes because later on one of his grandsons became an accomplished fencer.

Around this time BC fulfilled his dream of learning to fly. First as a crop duster, then as an instructor, and third as a commercial pilot in the early 1950s via a little start-up airline named Trans Texas Airways (TTA). These airlines were popping up all over the country using surplus airplanes from the war and TTA was no exception with its fleet of DC-3 tail draggers converted from troop and cargo carriers. BC's obsession with time, schedules, weather, and procedures suited him well as an airline pilot. His career with TTA would span decades. BC began flying DC-3s then advanced to Convair 600 propjets, and finally to DC-9 class jets. The airline also grew with the fleet, beginning as TTA (a.k.a. Teeter Totter Airways or Tree Top Airways), expanding to Texas International, and then buying and merging with both Continental and Eastern Airways. He retired in 1982 as one of the most senior captains in the company.

After becoming an airline pilot, Beryl married Shirley Marie Green in 1955. They had 2 children together during their ten year marriage: a daughter, Karen and a son Randy. During this time there were many visitations with his brother Billy’s family in El Paso and Irving. After his divorce in March 1965, Beryl owned and operated a Baskin Robbins Ice Cream Store for about two years, while on a leave of absence from the airline and recovering from back disc surgery. In 1967, Beryl returned to the flying he loved, until his retirement.

Although the marriage had ended, Beryl stayed active in his children’s lives and used all the time he was allotted with them, consisting of mostly summers with a few holidays mixed in. It seemed each year brought some new activity: ping pong, tennis, road trips, learning to play cards, a trip to Hawaii, an entire summer of water skiing (later all the grandchildren were in turn taught by their parents) culminating in the two summers he spent teaching Randy to fly before his graduation from high school.

BC dabbled in investing in his later years and loved to play poker and gin rummy with his family. After retirement in 1982, Beryl preferred to drive cross-country, sometimes with a camper, touring from the ground the western US which he was so fond of. He and his son spent 6 weeks exploring Alaska in the summer of 1984. Finally settling in Grapevine, BC lived out the duration of his retired life in his own home. He donated to the Wounded Warrior Project (woundedwarriorproject.org) in the last years of his life, demonstrating his concern for soldiers. Beryl, quietly and without pain, passed away after two weeks in the hospital on September 11, 2014 at the age of 90.

Mr. Kern is survived by his daughter Karen, son Randy, brother Billy, grandsons Stefan, Preston and James, granddaughter Alyssa, nephews Steven and William, and nieces Katie, and Magie.

In lieu of floral arrangements please consider a donation to the Wounded Warrior project, in the name of BC Kern, since he was so supportive of the armed forces during his lifetime.