BOSQUE COUNTY, Texas — The Central Texas community is raising money for the family of a man who died during a flash flooding on May 5, according to a recently created GoFundMe.
The GoFundMe, organized by Felicia Frysinger, states that her grandfather, Joe West, died on Sunday, May 5 as a flash flood tore through the home he shared with his wife and dog near Meridian Creek. Frysinger says West died getting his wife, Anne, and their dog to safety.
Anne West has been left widowed and with a destroyed home, according to Frysinger.
The GoFundMe is now raising money to help rebuild the Wests' home. Family members are reportedly going through the house to save what they can, and preserve as much of the structure as they can before it rots and molds from water damage.
A donation fund has also been set up at First Security Bank under Anne West.
West's daughter Jennifer Williamson said he was a marine, a devoted family man and a Christian with a strong faith. Williamson is the one spearheading the restoration of her parent's house, as she promised her dad she would take care of her mom.
"I'm just kind of stepping in to the position that my dad left open in her world," Williamson added. "To take care of her, take care of the house and make all of this right for her. We're not in a position to be able to afford to have pride at this point. We need help and I need to get my mom's house to where she can live in it."
Williamson was away on work when she got a call from her mom, Anne, about the flooding and her dad "missing." She told 6 News the water was around 52 inches high throughout the entire house, making furniture float and be moved around. She said the only way out of the house was for her dad to break a back window.
"He had to get her underwater out the window, and then grab the dog and get the dog to go underwater," Williamson explained how her parents and dog were able to escape the floodwaters in the house.
Williamson said Anne made it to higher ground, and then verified that Joe made it out of the window and to a concrete wall surrounding the house, but that's when the conditions got harder for him and the current got stronger.
"The third time that she called him he didn't answer," Williamson recalled.
Williamson said her dad was a survivalist and if anyone was going to be able to figure how to survive an emergency situation like the one he was in, he would have if he could have. Joe's body was found hours after he got out of the house. He had been swept away by floodwaters.
"He was at a fairly low point down the driveway, the water receded really quickly but he was in one of the places where water would have receded last," Williamson explained.
Using her faith, and the West family work ethic -- Williamson and other family members are trying to preserve what they can of the house, and also the West's items from over their lifetime and nearly 55 year long marriage. She's thankful to have saved some photos that her dad took, as he was a photographer. Williamson was also able to keep the complete Harvard Classics set.
"He would be super proud of our reaction to everything that has happened because we have managed, my mom and I, have managed to find the blessings and God's imprint all over everything that has happened," Williamson said.
With the help of the community, Williamson is hopeful to restore her dad's legacy, help take care of her mother and ensure generational pride on the property her dad care so much for.
A full obituary for West can be found at this link.
The GoFundMe can be found at this link: Fundraiser by Felicia Frysinger : Help us rebuild the home of Joe and Anne West (gofundme.com).
At the time of writing, the GoFundMe has raised over $5,000 of its $50,000 goal.
There will be a memorial service for Joe's life on May 16 at 4:00 p.m. It will be at One Church in Clifton.
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