Roll Call Tribute

Pennington Funeral Home obituary
323 N Comanche
San Marcos, TX 78666
512-353-4311
512-353-4529 (fax)

Bibb Akers Underwood
November 12, 1931 - March 17, 2019

Bibb Underwood was born November 12, 1931 in Ballinger, Texas to Sid and Vera Akers Underwood.

He attended Texas A&M and graduated in 1952. While at Texas A&M he was a Distinguished Military Student, Co-Editor of Aggieland Yearbook, and was selected Who’s Who his senior year.

Following graduation, he entered the U.S. Army as a Second Lieutenant of Infantry. He went on to command companies in Korea, Hawaii and Viet Nam.

He was awarded the Legion of Merit, the Soldier Medal, three Bronze Stars and the Purple Heart before retiring in 1979 as a full Colonel.

Following his retirement in 1979, Bibb completed a Master’s degree in Psychology at Texas State University. He went on to pursue a 20 year career as a marriage and family therapist. Many lives were touched through his therapy.

Upon retiring from Family Therapy, he went public with his writing avocation and published in the San Marcos Daily Record. This effort resulted in two books; Ordinary People: Heroes, Creators, Survivors and Crumbs for A Hungry Soul.

Bibb was civic-minded. He served almost 20 years on the Scheib Board of Directors; Board of Samaritan Counseling Center; San Marcos Transportation Advisory Board, San Marcos Tourist Information Center, Women’s Shelter, member of the City Park and Recreation Board and class agent for his Texas A&M of 1952. In addition, he taught Sunday School at the First United Methodist Church.

As a lifelong devotee of fitness, Bibb enjoyed running, tennis and cycling. After taking up cycling at the age of 70, he rode the Lake Tahoe Century ride, he did the MS 150 three times and numerous other local rides.

He is survived by his good friend and companion, Shirley Rogers; a son Charlton (Chuck) Underwood and wife Nancy; daughter Jamie Reed and husband Michael; daughter Renee Underwood and partner Mary Beth Ricci; sister Jane Roberson and husband Sam; and brother Sidney. Grandchildren include Sean and Stacey Underwood, Cameron Reed, Parker Underwood and Great Granddaughter Sophia Reed.

A memorial service will be conducted at First United Methodist Church San Marcos, Friday March 22 at 11:00 AM. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to First United Methodist Church San Marcos or the Sunshine Ladies at First Presbyterian Church San Marcos.


MEMORIAL SERVICE
First United Methodist Church
Friday, March 22, 2019
11:00 AM
129 W. Hutchison Street
San Marcos, TX 78666
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Longtime Contributor To SMDR Dead At 87


Tue, 03/19/2019 - 12:00am
1931 - 2019
Rachel Willis
Features Editor
@rachelcantweet
rwillis@sanmarcosrecord.com
Tuesday, March 19, 2019

The San Marcos community was dealt a blow Sunday night.

Bibb Underwood, the man of a thousand and one stories, drew a final breath Sunday evening. Underwood was a father, a grandfather, a distinguished veteran, an engaged family therapist, a friend to many and a dedicated writer – writing hundreds of profiles thaat recorded the lives of so many, as well as two books.

“Everything Bibb did, he did with passion — whether it was biking in the Rocky Mountains or revealing things we never knew about people we see everyday,” San Marcos Daily Record Managing Editor Anita Miller said. “He was a skilled interviewer and talented writer who supplied profiles and feature stories to the Daily Record for 20 years. He never received any monetary compensation, writing solely for the love of doing so. Our hearts are heavy as we realize we will never again hear his laugh in our newsroom.”

Underwood’s laugh and endless wit were part of his charm. He was charismatic and caring, devious and delightful, poignant and pointed, and he poured those traits into all of his writing.

“Bibb is one of the most gifted writers I’ve ever known and I thoroughly enjoyed reading his work,“ friend Don Anders said.

Anders saw Underwood days before he passed and said that he was “just as jovial as he always was.”

“He loved everyone deeply. He loved his family. He gave so much to the community and he lived life to the fullest and he cherished every day. Anyone that knew him was blessed by him,” Underwood’s daughter Jamie Reed said. “He loved deeply, everything he did he did it with such passion and just the way that he gave, he gave so much of himself and I want the community to know how deeply he loved and cherished every moment.

“For the three siblings, we would want everyone to know, how deeply we loved him and how deeply he loved life,” Reed continued. “We are beyond blessed, everyone that knew him was blessed.”

Underwood was a talented profiler, having recorded and written the lives and profiles of over 200 people in the area throughout his freelance career with the San Marcos Daily Record. Underwood’s first profile for the paper was of a woman dedicated to working with patients in the local mental health center. Out of his own curiosity and a want for others to meet her – if only vicariouusly – he sat down and recorded the story of Donna Schoonover. Sincee that day, he remained busy working for the San Marcos Daily Record – a final movie review from his latest writing endeavor “A Retrospect on the Silver Screen” still sits in an inbox, waiting to be published.

The things that he hadn’t given to the paper, he collected in his book “Crumbs For A Hungry Soul” – a collection of short stories, poems and obsservations that carry both wisdom and humor.

Underwood was not only a pillar of his community, but a highly-decorated veteran that served in the Korean War and Vietnam War.

Underwood was born in rural west Texas and graduated from Texas A&M University with a degree in agriculture in May of 1951 – whhen the Korean War was in full swing – and immediately was sennt to Fort Benning, Georgia for training in the U.S. Army.

He is credited with saving the lives of many under his command – from risking his life in October 1965 while pullingg survivors from a burning helicopter on a dusty pickup zone in Vietnam to a heroic effort to evacuate a troop of American soldiers, known as Charlie Company, in 1966 from a sure death in the jungles of Vietnam. Author George C. Wilson would go on to tell that story in his book “Mud Soldiers: Life Inside the New American Army.”

A thousand feet above the raging battle, Underwood called in artillery from the back of a Huey helicopter, as the Viet Cong D-800 Battalion’s circle tightened around Charlie Company. He was flying over the battle hour after hour, taking time out only to switch into a fully fueled helicopter when his own ran low.

The Army would later say that 1,100 artillery shells were fired to help save Charlie Company and Wilson would go on to write in his book that 1st Lt. John Wells Libs, leader of 2nd Platoon, Charlie Company said, “God bless you, Bibb Underwood,” into the earth that bounced back into his face every time another volley of artillery sent by Underwood crashed to the ground around him.

Underwood retired from the Army with 27 years of service, a Soldier’s Medal for his heroism in pulling survivors from a burning helicopter, three Bronze Stars for the night he spent sending in artillery to save Charlie Company in the jungles of Vietnam, a Purple Heart when he was shot down in a helicopter and a Meritorious Service Medal with an Oak Leaf Cluster.

Perhaps what Underwood did best though was capture, with a fine-toothed comb, the small everyday moments that marked the his life as well as those around him, and through his writing, he created an unintentional profile of himself. Or as he put it in “Crumbs For A Hungry Soul,” about his writing, “It is, simply put, a part of my soul.”

Pennington Funeral Home is in charge of the funeral arrangements and the service will be held on Friday at the First United Methodist Church of San Marcos, 129 W. Hutchison St.