Dr. William Dempsey Seybold was born in Temple, Texas on February 23, 1915, the oldest son of Claude Dempsey and Lillian Cochrane Seybold. He attended high school in Temple and received his B.S. in medicine from the University of Texas at Austin in 1936. Dr. Seybold resigned from the Mayo Clinic on October 1, 1950, to return to his native Texas, where he joined the practice of another Mayo alumnus, Dr. Mavis P. Kelsey. A third Mayo-trained physician, Dr. William V. Leary, also became a partner. Two years later, however, Dr. Seybold withdrew from the partnership and established himself in an office in the Hermann Professional Building. In the summer of 1954, Dr. John W. Overstreet joined Dr. Seybold, forming a partnership that lasted until 1961, when Dr. Seybold rejoined what was then called the Kelsey-Leary Clinic. Dr. Seybold remained a partner in the subsequent Kelsey-Seybold Clinic, became Chief of the Surgery Section and later Chief of Staff, Chairman of the Professional Committee, and member of the Executive Committee.