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 Act for the Houston and San Antonio metropolitan areas. He was a founding member and for fourteen years, he was the executive director of the Texas Association of Public Employee Retirement Systems. Blythe is a director of the Texas Hedge Fund Association, established in 2002. He is a founding member of the National Society of Pension Professionals. In 1982, Blythe ran unsuccessfully in the Republican primary against freshman State Senator J. E. "Buster" Brown of Lake Jackson. Reflecting on that campaign, Brown said that the two disagreed on few issues but that the race became personally divisive. Bill Blythe William