Everett E. Byrom, Jr., DDS


Everett E. Byrom, Jr., DDS, was born to Everett E. Byrom Sr, DDS, and Florence Viola May Byrom at their home in Poteet on December 20, 1933. He passed away from complications of COPD on December 5, 2012. Everett Jr. left behind his wife, Linda Causey Byrom, four children, 3 step children, and a blend of 15 grandchildren and 5 great grandchildren. Linda says that Everett “opened up a way of life for her children that they would not have had as children of a single mom.”
Everett Jr. graduated from Poteet High School in 1952 and went on to Baylor University then to Baylor Dental School, graduating in 1961. He opened his first dental practice in Farmers Branch in 1961 and moved to Devine in the early 70s to open his practice next door to Conolly Drug Store. From there, Everett moved his practice to an office near the new Winns Store and the Medina Valley State Bank.
Back in Poteet, Everett’s father had his own dental practice, one which he ultimately held for 54 years, and Everett Jr. found that he was needed there from time to time. Eventually, upon his father’s death in 1982, Everett decided to operate his practice in both Devine and Poteet. But, at some point, he had to make the decision to close the office in Devine and concentrate his time in Poteet. Because he cared deeply for his patients, rather than selling the Devine practice, Everett chose to let his patients choose their own new dentist and send over their records. Many of them chose to follow him to Poteet. Actually, Everett had many other patients who drove long distances to use him as their dentist.
This good dentist had a special rapport with his patients. It was his policy to see only one patient at a time, and together, they enjoyed watching the birds at his bird feeders and the squirrels that played in the parking lots.

Everett E. Byrom, Jr. and wife Linda sailing in Key West.

“He enjoyed visiting, chatting about current events, the good old days, (many of his patients were lifelong friends and former teachers), politics, hunting, and fishing,” according to Linda. And, as Everett’s health declined and he sometimes had to cancel his appointments, often times, unless it was an emergency, these patients “patiently” waited for him to get better.
Everett loved his hometown of Poteet. In fact, his roots go back to his father’s being one of the men who started the Poteet Strawberry Festival. That celebration was a big deal for Everett and his family. It was a week-long party at his and Linda’s house with family arriving on Tuesday and Wednesday before the weekend and staying over until Monday or Tuesday after the festival. It involved some 20-15 of their “favorite relatives” staying with them. And after the parade, they entertained some 30 or more for lunch. “A lifelong lover of everything Poteet,” says Linda, Everett served for a time on the city council, and he helped form a park foundation whose mission was to restore a park that had deteriorated. Other interests included serving on the Atascosa County Crisis Center and being active in the local Lions Club.
Everett loved the ranch, was an avid hunter, and had several impressive head mounts and antler mounts. Plus, they ate all the venison, Everett believing that if he killed it, he should eat it. He is said to have been a “crack shot,” and he took up bow hunting after his health began to decline. After work and on weekends, he could be found on the ranch “petting his cows” and calling them “Babies.” During the drought and well after he was quite ill, Everett was determined to have water available so the cows didn’t have to walk so far, so, with him on oxygen, he and Linda hauled water every day or two to a large tub at the back of the property.
Also a lover of airplanes, Everett had earned his pilot license as a boy working at Stinson Field to make enough money to pay for classes. At one time, he even contemplated joining the Navy and flying for them. And Everett was an avid collector. That included arrowheads, spear tips, rocks, and even rattlesnake rattles. He was even known to wake up his family to go snake hunting on the rural roadways after they had cooled for the night.
Linda recalls that Everett found joy in many things. That included singing, as he reportedly had a beautiful voice. The two of them often sang duets in church, and they always sang in the car when they traveled. But most of all his greatest joy was his children, whom he “loved fiercely, wholeheartedly, and unconditionally.” Everett III and Craig live in Austin and have a successful special effects business, having worked on many movies and commercials over the years; Melinda and her family live in San Angelo where she has been able to be a stay-at-home mom; Michele and her husband work with SBA during natural disasters, helping people get funds to rebuild. They will be moving to Haiti soon to establish a trade school for orphans aging out of the orphanages so they can learn to support themselves and also to learn about Jesus!
Linda says that Everett was and is still unforgettable. She adds that she has lost her adventurer and misses him dearly.