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Dick Eastland spent decades teaching girls how to fish and believe in themselves. On Friday, he died doing what he always did — looking out for them.
Torrential rains pounded Central Texas on Friday, dropping more than 10 inches of rain and causing the Guadalupe River to rise 26 feet, flooding Camp Mystic and nearby areas in Kerr County.
By Saturday morning, it was confirmed that Dick Eastland, 70, had died. News of his death quickly spread across generations of Camp Mystic alumni.
“We believe Dick was trying to save a few of the campers,” said Lauren Garcia, a former Camp Mystic attendee. “I believe he passed while trying to save them from the flooding.”
Garcia shared memories of the camp and Eastland with Texas Public Radio.
“The Eastlands have been running this camp for decades. Dick and Tweety are the current owners, and you see them all around the camp, all day, every day,” she said. “Dick would help teach fishing lessons to the little girls.”
Shelby Patterson, another former attendee, recalled her time at Camp Mystic during the summer before her senior year of high school, when she was an aide.
“One of the most special parts about being an aide is that you get to raid the commissary,” Patterson said. “It was always a surprise and very fun. Dick would meet you there — where you get your snacks every day around 2 p.m. — and it was just this special time to be together and have a treat. I’ll always remember those moments fondly.”
The all-girls summer camp offers a variety of activities, including basketball, horseback riding and golf. Garcia recalled fishing with Eastland and the enthusiasm he brought to the pastime.
“You’d come up and say, ‘I caught a fish.’ And he’d hug you, take a picture with you, and say, ‘Now hold it by the mouth — put it closer to the camera to make it look real big. Let’s send this to your parents.’ He was just like a grandpa. I never had stuff like that,” Garcia said.
Those memories, she said, instilled confidence and left a lasting impact.
George Eastland, Dick’s grandson, posted a picture of him and his grandfather on social media. Along with it he wrote, “If he wasn’t going to die of natural causes, this was the only other way, saving the girls that he so loved and cared for.”
Tributes have poured in across social media from former campers and counselors. Katherine Somerville, a Kerrville resident and longtime counselor at the camp, described Eastland as “one of the most selfless men in the whole world.”
The Lyndon Baines Johnson Family also put out a statement on Monday. In it they state that Camp Mystic had been a “second home” for them and their “happy place” for three generations.
21 members of the family have attended the camp and formed lifelong friendships, the statement continues, adding that the family sends condolences to the Eastland family, who they’ve known for nearly 70 years.
Dick is survived by his four boys. Texas Monthly reports one of them, Edward, was with his father moments before he was swept away by the current.
