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William G. "Bill" Edgar
Golden Ex of the Year |
Bill Edgar enrolled at San Angelo Junior College in September 1941 where he was a member of the Drakers Fraternity, Student Council, and played in the band.
The outbreak of World War II forced him to withdraw from SAC and serve as a draftsman in the Army Air Corps. Edgar married fellow San Angelo College classmate Virginia Hays in September of 1942, and the following month, he was transferred from Randolph Field in San Antonio to a New Mexico air base as Senior Engineering Draftsman and head of the Engineering Drawing Department.
In 1944, Edgar enlisted in the Navy and served in the Western Pacific and Japan in the occupation forces in Hiroshima. Following discharge from the Navy, he returned to San Angelo in early 1946. He was a charter member of the active Naval Reserve in San Angelo for ten years and was the first enlisted man in the 8th Naval District to advance to the rank of Chief Petty Officer as a reservist.
Edgar worked full time at the Texas Employment Commission (now Texas Workforce Commission) while teaching a drafting and surveying class to 28 Latin American veterans at SAC in the evenings. He designed and drew house plans for local builders on weekends during this same period and operated a grass seed farm on a piece of land owned by Porter Henderson. Edgar was also well known as a square dance caller in the Concho Valley during the fifties. He served as Co-Chairman of the steering committee for the SAC 25th anniversary celebration in 1953 along with the late Jack Buchanan.
Edgar has had a diverse professional career. He owned and operated a night club in Oklahoma City for nine years, oversaw the construction and operation of an amusement park in Panama City Beach, Florida, and established an international courier service in Dallas to hand carry or arrange shipping of highly confidential materials for banks, electronic manufacturers, and oil companies.
In 1989, Edgar was awarded a $5,000 competitive prize for developing a computer driven automated shipping program for the company that reduced shipping costs in excess of $100,000 a year. Edgar eventually retired in 1990 from Honeywell, Inc. in Arizona where he was Import/Export Administrator.
Since his retirement in 1990, Edgar and his wife have lived in San Angelo where he has been active as an instructor for San Angelo Senior Center Computer Club, serving as president during 2003.
Edgar’s family has deep roots with Angelo State University. In addition to both Bill and Virginia being San Angelo College alumni, Edgar’s sister, Mary Frances Kissko, is a 1942 SAC alumnus. Edgar’s nephew, Matthew Kissko, is a 1985 ASU graduate Their daughter, Jan, was a member of the last class at San Angelo College and received her B.A. and M.A. degrees at Oklahoma City University. Their daughter, Fan, earned both her B.S. and M.B.A. from Angelo State University. Both daughters live in Arizona and their son, Bill, a Viet Nam veteran, lives in Montana.
As profiled in the 2004 Fall Alumni Magazine.
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