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Just two months ago, as we prepared the 10-year anniversary edition on
the Saragosa Tornado, I called Floyd for help. He had just left the
sheriff's office to return home to Saragosa after working an extra-long
day that started long before sunup. When the dispatcher radioed Floyd to
come by the office and talk to me, he graciously did so, although I
could tell he was tired to the bone.
Floyd didn't like talking about the tornado that wiped out nearly a
whole community, trapped his wife, Elia, inside a demolished building
and killed 30 of his friends. He did talk, though, and his eye-witness
account of that terrible night and the hard days that followed added a
unique slant to my update. It wasn't the first time he had helped me
with that story. On one of my visits to Saragosa after the wipeout,
Floyd drove me around to show me the devastation and to the first house
Texas Baptist Men Builders completed and turned over to the owner.
One of Floyd's greatest regrets was that he was unable to locate a
woman reported missing from Balmorhea Lake a few years back. Dorothy
Kelly just disappeared into thin air, and nobody ever found a trace of
her. One day, when I called Floyd about his follow-up investigation, I
nearly gave him a heart attack. "This is Dorothy Kelly, I said. I
understand you have been looking for me." That was a dirty trick to play
on such a nice guy. He was so stunned, he couldn't answer for a little
bit. Then I confessed that it was just me, Peggy the Pest, wanting more
information. He let out his breath then and was able to talk.
Floyd never refused to tell me anything I wanted to know. In fact, he
called me several times with a tip about some big story he knew I would
want. The last one was the kidnapping at Fort Davis by friends of Rick
McLaren, aka Republic of Texas ambassador. I was in Sanderson that day,
but when I got home, I found a message from Floyd on my answering
machine. "I just thought you would like to know what is happening in
Fort Davis," he said. Yes, that was a biggie, and I thanked him later
for the message.
Most people leave this world without making much of a mark. Maybe
Floyd's biography won't make the best-seller lists, but his dedication
to law enforcement, his family and friends will be long remembered.
Thank you, Floyd, for those memories.
Editor's Note: Peggy McCracken is an Enterprise writer and website manager whose column appears each Tuesday.
I got snail mail from Jim(my) Ivy a while back inviting me to a class
reunion, knowing that I wouldn't be able to attend, I thought I'd read
about it here, but never saw anything.
If you know him or if I missed it would you tell him I was asking about
the reunion.
You might give him the email address, jclays@juno.com.
Thanks and keep on doing what your doing.
CLAY STUBBLEFIELD
Pecos Enterprise
Mac McKinnon, Publisher
Division of Buckner News Alliance, Inc.
324 S. Cedar St., Pecos, TX 79772
Phone 915-445-5475, FAX 915-445-4321
e-mail: news@bitstreet.com
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Copyright 1997 by Pecos Enterprise
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