Clay Bednar, Texas Ranger
January 16, 1924 – January 17, 2004

We are saddened to report that on Sunday, January 17, 2004, we lost a great friend, Texas Ranger Clay Bednar. One day after his 80th birthday, he suffered a heart attack and died at a local hospital in San Angelo, Texas. He had entered the hospital the previous Friday suffering from pneumonia.

Clay was born on January 16, 1924, in Mereta, Texas. He attended and graduated from high school in Concho County and then attended San Angelo College. Like millions of American boys, Clay enlisted in the Army Air Corps in 1942 shortly after our country was thrown into the Second World War. He proudly served his country until the end of the war in 1945.

After completing his service to his country, Clay ranched in Runnels and Glasscock Counties. In 1950, he was accepted into the Texas Department of Public Safety as a Highway Patrolman. He was stationed first in Lubbock in West Texas before transferring to Lufkin in East Texas.

On October 18, 1961, Clay promoted to the Texas Rangers and was stationed in Liberty in Company “A.” Wanting to get back to West Texas, he transferred to Plainview in Company “C.” When he retired from the Rangers on October 1, 1981, he was stationed in Ozona in Company “E.”

Clay was devoted to the Texas Rangers and to his religion. He was a member of the Johnson Street Church of Christ in San Angelo. When he was stationed in Ozona, he served as an elder in the Church of Christ there.

Clay is survived by his wife, Jane, and his son, Rodger Clayton Bednar. His first wife, Alma, passed away in 1994.

Clay was a great friend and Texas Ranger. He will be missed by all who knew him.