105-year-old Fort Worth man to see his 13th solar eclipse on April 8

A 105-year-old man in Fort Worth has been a life-long eclipse chaser. The April 8 solar eclipse will be lucky number 13.

Here's what we know.

Meet Laverne Biser, the 105-year-old eclipse chaser

Beginning with a high school class, Laverne Biser has had a deep fascination with the cosmos. According to CBS News, he got a degree in mechanical engineering from Ohio State University and moved to Fort Worth to design airplanes at Carswell Airforce Base.

He can still recall his first eclipse in 1963. He packed his family's white Oldsmobile station wagon with beach towels and camera equipment and set off for Maine, the Dallas Morning News reports.

LaVerne Biser, 45 at the time, prepared for a total solar eclipse in Maine in 1963.

Photo courtesy of the Biser Family

LaVerne Biser set up his instruments to watch his first total solar eclipse in 1963 in Maine. He built an elaborate system that included a movie camera plugged into their station wagon's battery.

Photo courtesy of the Biser Family

The family of five drove 2,000 miles from Fort Worth and stayed in motels, eating at rest stops.

"I guess I am an eclipse chaser," Biser said from his home in West Fort Worth. "It’s a beautiful thing to see."

On April 8th, Biser will have no need to travel to find the solar eclipse − this one is coming to him.

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How many solar eclipses has Laverne Biser seen?

Biser shared his commitment to solar eclipses with the Dallas Morning News. He's traveled across the country and around the world to witness as many eclipses as possible.

The 2024 solar eclipse will be Biser's 13th solar eclipse and 10th total eclipse.

105-year-old Laverne Biser has been chasing eclipses since 1963. He shares a photo he took of his favorite eclipse in 1979 in Williston, South Dakota.

Photo courtesy of CBS News Texas

Starting with the July 20, 1963 eclipse, Biser has traveled to a state park in the plains of eastern New Mexico, a sandy beach on Canada’s Prince Edward Island, a pasture in a small town in Nebraska, the Black Sea near Russia, and off the coast of Brazil.

These are just a handful of his adventures.

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Traveling is only half the work for Biser. His garage is filled with homemade telescopes, the largest standing six feet tall. Biser built it almost sixty years ago.

LaVerne Biser, 105, shows off his handmade telescopes at his home in Fort Worth, Texas. Biser, a member of Fort Worth Astronomical Society, has traveled across the United States and internationally to observe and photograph solar eclipses. He now looks forward to watching and photographing his 13th solar eclipse next month right in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

Desiree Rios/Special Contributor to the Dallas Morning News

A Biser family effort

Biser's family encourages his dedication to solar eclipses. He met his wife, Marion, when he moved to Texas. Their wedding date was scheduled in consideration of eclipses.

The couple had three children, but that didn't seem to slow Biser down. In 1972, Biser's daughter, Carol, asked if she should get married on June 3 or July 8.

“If you want me to give you away,” Biser joked, according to Marion’s notes, “it will have to be June 3 because I’ll be in Prince Edward Island, Canada on July 8.”

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Marion passed last year at the age of 97. Carol Barrow helps to keep her father's passion alive. Biser will stay at Barrow's Plano home during the April 8 eclipse.

Carol Barlow, 76, and her father, LaVerne Biser, 105, looked at photographs of their family’s travels to watch solar eclipses.

Desiree Rios/Special Contributor to the Dallas Morning News