William Jefferson Blythe Jr. lost control of his 1942 Buick on U.S. Route 60 outside of Sikeston, Missouri, after one of his car's tires blew out. He survived the accident after being thrown from the car, but drowned in a drainage ditch as he tried to pull his way out of the three feet (1 meter) of water in the ditch. Three months later, Blythe's widow, Virginia, gave birth to their son, whom she named William Jefferson Blythe III in honor of his father and grandfather. In 1950, Blythe's widow married Roger Clinton Sr.; 12 years later, Blythe's posthumous son legally adopted his stepfather's
Bill Blythe Bill Blythe William Jackson Blythe, Jr., usually known as Bill Blythe or William Blythe (born August 15, 1935), is a real estate broker in Houston, Texas, and a Republican former member of the Texas House of Representatives for Harris County. His legislative service in the former District 22-3, subsequently District 91, extended from 1971 to 1983. A sixth generation Texan, Blythe was born in San Antonio to William Blythe, Sr. (1907–2004), a native of Fordyce in Dallas County in southern Arkansas and an attorney and colonel in the United States Army, stationed throughout the world during thirty-seven years of service.