Texas man, 95, cannot renew driver's license because he never had birth certificate

Bigler, who is 95, was told he needed a birth certificate to renew. However, Bigler told officials at the Texas Department of Public Safety he did not have one. Never had one.

"I think I'm a pretty good driver," Bigler told WFAA. "But I'm nobody."

Bigler, who was born in 1924, is a volunteer at Grace Lutheran Church in Ennis. He drives his pickup truck from his home to the church each week. For the past two months, he has been driving illegally -- at least in the eyes of Texas officials.

Bigler told WFAA he did not know what county he was born in.

"I really don't know," Bigler told the television station. "That's the problem."

According to an Ancestry.com database of records compiled by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the United States, Bigler was born in Ranger, Texas, on July 18, 1924. That was the date given when he was baptized in June 1931 at the St. Paul Church in Brenham, Texas.

That's a baptismal certificate. State officials want a birth certificate. According to databases compiled by Ancestry.com, which include a Texas birth index and a compilation of birth certificates in Texas through 1932, Bigler is not listed.

Currently, Ranger, located west of Fort Worth, is part of Eastland County. According to Bigler's World War II draft registration card, Ranger was located in Stephens County in 1924.

Bigler's friends are trying to sort out the legal puzzle, calling several counties and seeking records from Austin. Bigler submitted his baptismal certificate and proof he served in the Army during World War II.

"We've called all of them and talked to all of them and none of them had records," Cliff Moss told WFAA

On Aug. 29, he received a letter from the Texas Department of Vital Statistics, which said Bigler was "not found."

"I've been driving for 65 years. Maybe longer than that," Bigler told WFAA. "I even had a commercial license when I was working for the railroad for 40 years."

Until Bigler can produce a birth certificate, those other records do not matter. Bigler no longer has a legal form of identification."I think it stinks," Bigler told WFAA. "It's very important to me because it's just like taking everything away from me."