September 12, 2024 — One of my favorite series is called “Inventified” that appeared in AquaNew’s newsletters throughout 2018. Each chapter highlighted a relative, childhood friend or teacher who inspired Rob to become an inventor and a free thinker. For my side of the family, there are product manufacturing roots which make it interesting for me in being involved with the manufacturing of Watt-Ahh bottled water. My family was small before I married Rob back in 1997 who has a large family. I only knew one living uncle who was married to my mother’s only sister, Marilyn. Sadly, Bryon Baird passed this week leaving behind Marilyn, their two sons and wives, and many grandchildren and great grandchildren. Bryon was a grandson of the iconic founder of Mrs. Baird’s Bread of Texas.
Bryon’s grandmother, Ninni Baird, became a widow in 1911. For her family’s economic survival, her hobby of baking bread for neighbors converted into a family-run business assisted by her eight children. What were the odds back in that time of a single mother to create the foundation of a phenomenal bakery empire, starting by using her recipes and her sons riding bicycles around Fort Worth, Texas to deliver her baked goods? I am sure Ninni beat the odds.
Byron, after graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin and later receiving a MBA from the University of North Texas (UNT), worked his entire career at Mrs. Baird’s Bread as one of the family members in guiding decisions on new baking technologies and product expansion. I recall as a teenager that he, Marilyn and our cousins, Ross and Steven, came for a visit when we lived in Colorado in the mid 1960’s. On our day trips together, he convinced my father who was driving to stop at numerous grocery stores so Bryon could check out the sweet roll selection made by competing bakery businesses. He told us Mrs. Baird’s was diversifying and getting into sweet rolls. Us kids loved being on the taste committee. To this day, I also check the shelves at grocery stores but in the bottled water section and always thinking about Bryon while looking at the various brands and price points.
Byron was honored as a member of the Hall of Fame at UNT’s G. Brint Ryan College of Business. He is shown in the photo above and is the second man from the left. He tirelessly served on behalf of many non-profit, religious and educational organizations within the Forth Worth, Texas region and beyond.
Bryon, we will miss your spirited laugh and Texas-size sense of humor. You loved your family and the great outdoors and helped feed millions the “staff of life” including lots of sweet rolls!
