Finally, on November 16, 1941, it was renamed "Gene Autry" to honor the singer and motion picture star. Though Autry was born in Tioga, Texas, his family moved to Oklahoma while he was an infant. He was raised in the southern Oklahoma towns of Achille and Ravia. Autry had also worked as a telegraph operator near Berwyn. In 1939 he bought the Flying A Ranch on the west edge of Berwyn, and the town decided to honor him by changing its name. Approximately 35,000 people attended the ceremonies broadcast live from the site on Autry's "Melody Ranch" radio show. Expectations that Autry would make his permanent home on the ranch were heightened when Autry’s house in California burned down just 8 days before the name change ceremony, but were dashed 21 days after the ceremony with the attack on Pearl Harbor. Autry joined the military in 1942 and his life changed. He sold the ranch after the war. The ranch is now all but gone.