The below biography was extracted from Lest We Forget, a family history written in 1983 and 1984 by Lucille “Tippy” Rebecca Kyle Harr, and updated in 2010 by Debra Harr.

Winton is a brother-in-law I [Tippy] knew so little about until after the death of Dorothy. Although Winton worked for Dad [Lester Kyle] in 1923 and stayed with the Will Judy’s, I don’t remember him as a young man and, too, I was only around five.

He is the oldest of the Charles and Sallie Jane Hyre family, born January 17, 1906. Brothers were Isaac Wayne Hyre and C. Gordon Hyre. Wayne, as he was called, married Blanch Sites; and Gordon married Grace Nelson. A sister, Mary, married Virgil Ours. All of the brothers and the sister had two sons.

After he attended high school, he worked in Ohio, in the steel mills. He managed the National Service Station at the ‘Y’ in South Petersburg, he was a game warden, he worked at Sparrow’s Point Naval Yard during World War II. He had a classification of 2-B-H after a review in March of 1944. He returned to Petersburg from Baltimore and worked as a supervisor on W.P.A. He worked as a carpenter and built and was foreman on several state and private jobs in Petersburg. He was considered an excellent carpenter and then he went to Davis, West Virginia, and worked for the West Virginia Department of Natural Resources, State Park division. He supervised the building of the roads at Blackwater State Park and kept boys at the Forestry Correctional busy and supervised.

He is firm, concise, and tolerates no nonsense. He is an avid hunter and obeys state and man-made laws concerning nature’s wonders. He is a member of a hunting club and watches out for the welfare of its members and sees that the by-laws are executed.

He is also a member of the Moose at Moorefield and Past Governor of Lodge 358.

His hobby, of course, is the hunting mentioned above, and he reads in his spare time. Books such as nature books, books by Zane Grey, and magazines of high quality are read. He has educated himself in so many lines and does not hesitate to refer to them with knowledge.

I have not known of his religious convictions and do not know of any church affiliation.

He is not considered a ‘big spender’, but without hesitation spends freely on his family, friends and associates. He remembered Dorothy on all special occasions and never gave her costume jewelry. He marveled at Dorothy’s ability to stretch money. He never hesitates to offer assistance to a family who has misfortunes. He and Dorothy gave Carl Shobe a home when his parents died. They took care of Winton’s Aunt Minnie Bergdoll, and he thought it OK to take care of Aunt Lottie, although it never came to pass. Mary stayed with them while she was in high school and Dorothy assisted with Aunt Lottie Hiser, an aunt of Winton’s and the list goes on.

His home was his mansion. He hosted guests with an attitude of knowledge and perfection. His home was open to family, friend or foe, and he offered no apologies for attitudes or failures. He was a one-woman man, and Dorothy was that woman.

He continues to maintain his status quo in the fact that since Dorothy’s death in 1976 he learned to cook and keep house. He cans applesauce and makes tomato juice. He keeps his two acres of ground mowed, and his garden plowed and his business taken care of. He is working on the Hyre Family history and has gone into depth in securing information on it. Television hasn’t improved much at his location—although it is a past time.

There is little doubt that his biggest crisis and disappointment was the death of his beloved wife.

The knowledge, advice and belief that there was nothing that could be done, and the helplessness of the situation left him in disbelief. The advice of Bessie and especially Hester left him in a turmoil.

Again, he took his stance, and yielded to his belief. If there be any doubt in his mind now or then, he never speaks of it.

Another disappointment he faced was death of a daughter, Jane Carrol, at the age of 10 days. He speaks of it as a ‘bad time for me.’

The third crisis was perhaps the death of a nephew, David Hyre, while he was in service in Germany. David was 21 years of age and died as the result of an automobile accident.

His brother, C. Gordon, is also deceased, having died from cancer.

My hat is off to a brother-in-law that I’ve known most of my life, but didn’t know until 1976 when he became an individual I respected.

August 20, 1984:

Winton was buried on August 10 at Maple Hill Cemetery, having passed away at Grant Memorial Hospital on August 8.

He learned on May 15 that he had cancer of the pancreas and that it would be terminal within 6 months. It was nearer 10 weeks. He was alert until the end. He was converted and only suffered pain in short periods. We will miss him. He was 78.