Ted Bauries was a World War 2 pilot and a tire company and real estate executive.
Ted Bauries, a highly decorated Air Force pilot during World War II who became an executive of tire companies and founder of a commercial real estate firm, died Aug. 7 at his ranch home near Abilene. He was 87.
Theodore Charles Bauries was born on Sept. 13, 1920, in New Brunswick, N.J., the only child of John T. Bauries and Lillian Willenbrock Bauries. A graduate of New Brunswick High School, Ted Bauries graduated in 1941 from Rider University in Lawrenceville, N.J.
Before he graduated from college, Bauries obtained a pilot's license. On Dec. 8, 1941, the day after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Bauries joined the Army Air Corps.
As a pilot of C-47s and an air cargo version of the B-17 in the 317th Troop Carrier Group in New Guinea and the Philippines, Bauries was awarded the Air Medal and the Distinguished Flying Cross for valor in combat operations. He escaped serious injury during the war.
After the war, Bauries at first worked in merchandising in New York. He later was an executive of the Goodyear and Uniroyal tire companies.
In 1968, Uniroyal transferred Bauries to Houston. After retiring, he was a consultant to Goodyear.
In 1975, he started his own company, B&B Ventures, which did contract work for the tire companies he had worked for, building automotive centers and other facilities, said his son, Brian Bauries of Abilene.
Ted Bauries retired in 2002, his son said.
In retirement, Bauries helped organize a Habitat for Humanity crew at the First Congregational Church of Houston and was involved in producing a new hymnal for the church.
"He was generous and organized. If he had a mission, he would accomplish it in a military matter, and he had a concern for the less fortunate," Brian Bauries said.
In addition to his son, survivors include his wife of 62 years, Mildred Foerter Bauries of Houston and Abilene; another son, Glenn Bauries of Austin; and a daughter, Karen King of Potomac, Md.
A memorial service is scheduled at 11 a.m. Saturday, his birthday, at First Congregational Church, 10840 Beinhorn, in Houston.