William Byron Bails was born in Charleston, Illinois on September 23, 1913. He graduated from Eastern Illinois University and U.S. Navy Flight School at NAS Pensacola. He served as a naval fighter pilot as part of the 1937 navy demonstration team and on the USS Ranger and USS Yorktown aircraft carriers until 1939. He joined Pan American World Airways and spent the war years flying military transport missions in Africa, the Middle East and South Asia. Following the war he commanded some of the pioneer flights, scouting new land routes in South America for Pam Am. He transferred to San Francisco from Miami in 1958, retiring in 1973 as the senior captain on the West Coast. Bill was married to Susan Melissa Phipps in 1936 and they had four children: Margaret Ann, Bill Jr., Richard and Melissa. After the death of Susie, he married Marge Warren in 1983. He was active in his church and community and was a wonderful husband, father, grandfather and great grandfather. Bill passed away in Los Altos, California on October 21, 2000.