Summer Camp Owner's 'Last Act of Kindness and Sacrifice' Was Trying to Save Campers in Texas Floods, Friend Says
"[H]is last act of kindness and sacrifice was working to save the lives of campers," a friend, Paige W. Sumner, wrote in a tribute to him in the local Kerrville Daily Times.
Eastland and his wife, Tweety Eastland, directors of the private Christian camp, had been with the camp since 1974 and were third-generation managers of the facility, which has been in their family since 1939, according to the Camp Mystic website.
Tweety Eastland reportedly survived the devastating floods, spurred by nearly unprecedented rainfall.
Tributes to Dick have poured in online, praising him as a caring surrogate dad and grandpa, enthusiastic fishing teacher and smiling and warm presence on the campgrounds.
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"Generations of girls have been and will continue to be positively affected by him," Natalie Hayes Dunning posted on Facebook. "There aren't a lot of people that I know that are going straight to heaven, but Dick Eastland is one of them."
Former camper Rachel Thornton recounted Dick's encouragement while she tried to learn to fish.
"On the last day of class, he came up to me and said, 'As long as I've been here, I've never had a girl not catch a fish. You're catching one today,'" she wrote in a Facebook post. "Dick did not leave my side the entire class until I (mostly Dick) reeled one in, a tiny little perch."
Thornton wrote that despite the fish's size, Dick lavished her with praise.
"I remember someone saying perch were the smallest fish and Dick looked at me smiling and said, "Well it's the biggest perch I've ever seen anyone catch!" she wrote.
Both Dick and Tweety Eastland attended the University of Texas in Austin, according to a camp biography.
The Eastlands were parents of four boys. One son, James, died in 2015, according to the camp's website.
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Parents Follow 1 Naming Rule with All Their Kids, but Then Make Major Switch Up with Youngest Son
A teen shares how his family's longtime nickname makes him feel invisible, especially when they proudly exclude him from photos and family postsNEED TO KNOW A teen says being the only sibling without a 'Jo' name makes him feel excluded from his family's nickname, 'The Jo's' He says his parents and siblings proudly use the nickname even though his name differs from the rest When he expressed his hurt, his family dismissed him as 'oversensitive' and accused him of throwing a 'pity party'A teen feels unsupported by his parents after expressing disappointment over his name, which varies from the rest of his family. In a post on Reddit, the 16-year-old explains that his parents both have names beginning with "Jo," and they passed that tradition on to all of his older siblings, such as 'Josephine, Joseph, Josalyn, etc." However, the poster, who has an eight-plus-year age gap with his siblings, "was given a C name." "So I'm the only person who doesn't have Jo in my name," he explains. "While in some ways it's less confusing, it hurts because my family often get called The Jo's as a nickname and sign cards from everyone like that, it excludes me. They never use the Doe Family. It's always The Jo's." 'More often than not people either forget I'm a member of the family or act weird when my name is so different,' he adds. He notes that he doesn't have a close relationship with his family, which makes the exclusion sting even more. His parents, he says, frequently boast about the family having correlated names, even though it isn't true. 'My parents even talk about how important it was for them to keep it going,' he writes, frustrated that they left him out of that narrative. When he asked about how they chose his name, the answer wasn't comforting. 'They said it was just one they heard and decided to use and there was no reason for it,' he shares. 'They didn't even give it any real thought.' On a recent family vacation with his older siblings and their in-laws, things escalated. Social media posts from the trip were filled with captions about vacationing with 'The Jo's.' 'I was actually left out of lots of photos where that was focused on," he writes. Some of the in-laws' relatives even assumed he wasn't really part of the family. 'Some of the kids in their ILs families thought I was a cousin or a foster kid or something,' he reveals. The experience left him withdrawing from the trip entirely. 'When we got home my parents didn't notice,' he shares. They continued to post photos from the vacation that didn't include him, of course, captioned with the family nickname. Later, when his parents asked him for more photos to add to their collection, he decided to speak up. 'They said they wanted to keep them all in the Jo albums,' he explains. Seeing an opportunity, he told them how the family nickname makes him feel. However, the conversation didn't go as he hoped. 'My parents got annoyed at me,' he writes. 'They told me to quit being dramatic and I'm family so what the hell does it matter.' They dismissed his feelings, saying he was 'oversensitive." 'They wouldn't apologize for not pandering to my emotions,' he says, noting that his parents then complained to his siblings, who also sided against him. 'They were all like way to throw a pity party or make it about yourself," he shares. Never miss a story — sign up for to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. Despite his family's feelings, users in the comments were quick to support him. 'At first I thought this was going to be a NAH because it's not the end of the world that your parents named you something off theme," one person wrote. "Referring to the family as 'The Jo's' should have stopped the day you were born and actively posting family photos without you in them is beyond rude!' The teen agreed, noting that the name itself isn't the real issue. 'The name thing alone would definitely be a really small thing if it wasn't for the nickname always being used and the way they talk,' he replied. 'It's like they acknowledge I'm not really a part of the family.' Read the original article on People Solve the daily Crossword
