In the summer of 1966, Jim Bryce was a philosophy and mathematics student, taking summer course in algebra and computer programming. He was also working for UT-Austin as janitor at the time.
Bryce knew Claire Wilson, the pregnant woman who was the first to be shot from the tower, and Tom Eckman, who was killed by the shooter. He had to identify them at the hospital.
Later, Bryce coincidentally met Claire Wilson’s dad on a camping trip, who reconnected them after nearly a decade.
Bryce has been close to multiple tragedies. He was in Dallas when JFK was shot, and knew the man who was the last to commit suicide by jumping off the UT tower. He’s currently part of the committee putting together a memorial that will be unveiled on Aug. 1, 2016.