Jeff Ramsey was a husband, father, and an insurance salesman — but he used his spare time indulging his passion for helping those with serious life altering injuries.
He worked with amputees, both veteran and civilian, learning to adapt to living with their traumatic injuries.
Tragically still missing, Jeff is presumed to have been killed along with his wife Tanya, who was recently identified among the victims in the floodwaters along the Guadalupe River in Texas.
In the moments before the couple’s Camper RV was washed away in the surging waters last Friday night, Jeff reached out to family to say his goodbyes.
And in keeping with what seems to have been a life focused on helping others, he continued to save lives — right up to the end of his own.
A newspaper out of Denton, Texas near where the couple lived initially reported Jeff’s body had been found, though that was later proven to be a misidentification even after Tanya’s body was positively identified among the flood victims:
We are sorry to hear that Flower Mound resident Jeff Ramsey was a victim of the flash flooding while camping in Kerrville, TX on Friday. His wife, Tanya, is still missing. The downpour caused the Guadalupe River to rise as much as 25 feet in 45 minutes. Authorities reported at… pic.twitter.com/wZS4OlSlS2
— The Cross Timbers Gazette (@ctgdentoncounty) July 5, 2025
Jeff reached out to several people in the final minutes before being washed away.
Two of those were his own children, both asleep at the time.
And then he reached out to family also encamped along the river.
With the rushing waters audibly surging in the background, Jeff left gut wrenching voicemails for his son and daughter, as reported by the New York Post:
Jeff Ramsey, 61, an insurance salesman from Lewisville, is still missing after the deadly torrent struck his Airstream camper at the HTR RV Park in Kerrville, where he was staying with his wife, Tanya, 46, and the couple’s whippet dog, Chloe.
“Once they realized there was nothing they could do, my stepmom was on the phone with her mom while my dad made a call to me and my sister. We were asleep. He left us a message saying he was not going to make it and that he loved us so much, telling us goodbye,” the couple’s son, Jake, told The Post.
“He called me once he realized there was no hope. It was a short voicemail. He just left me a voicemail. He said, ‘Buddy. I love you so much. It doesn’t look like we are going to make it. Tell Rachey I love her,’” Jake recalled, noting how unusual it was to hear his father sounding fearful.
ADVERTISEMENT“You never heard this guy panic but we heard panic and fear in his voice,” he said.
The sound of rushing water could be heard in the voicemail left for his sister a few minutes later as his stepmom screamed in the background, “We’re dying, we’re dying!”
Jeff also used some of his final moments before the water overtook him to warn Tanya’s brother and her mother, who were staying at another cabin about 150 yards up from the river, of the impending danger, calling them at 4:30 that morning.
“He rescued them because they would have slept in and they would have washed away. That cabin was destroyed, completely underwater. He saved their lives,” said Jake.
Tragically, as Jake was poring over his father’s computer, he saw an alert text message sent from the RV park far too late to be of any use.
“Right, literally, the same time he left her that voicemail as they were getting swept away, they received an evacuation text from their RV park saying ‘Gather your belongings and head out as soon as possible.’ It was ridiculous,” the distraught son said.
“I saw that he got that text as they were floating away. Literally right as he left my sister that goodbye message,” he added.
One of Jeff’s friends and training buddies, former Dallas Cowboy defensive tackle Tony Casillas, shared his grief online following news of Jeff and Tanya’s death.
Tanya was a cancer survivor who worked at a wig shop in Dallas, and you can tell in one of Casillas’ photos that she is wearing a cap to cover her baldness — a result of her own previously successful fight against cancer.
Casillas posted these photos of the couple, and one of him and Jeff together, along with a heartfelt message:
Trying to process the shock of the devastating news of losing these beautiful people Jeff and Tanya to the floods on the Guadalupe River , our hearts are broken 🙏🙏 prayers for the Ramsey family.❤️❤️and all the families that are dealing with the loss of loved ones. I love your… pic.twitter.com/UlVHUvamB0
— tony casillas (@tccasillas) July 6, 2025
Casillas also shared the following video this morning, reflecting on his friend’s life and his former passion work though the Adaptive Training Foundation out of Dallas:
My brother Jeff Ramsey and his wife Tanya and all the lives that are gone …🙏❤️ pic.twitter.com/fHAXTnCcVp
— tony casillas (@tccasillas) July 9, 2025
Hearing that personal tribute to Jeff Ramsey, the fact that he reached out to his kids — even saving the lives of Tanya’s brother and mother when his own death seemed certain — isn’t all that surprising.
His brother-in-law, Eric Steele, confirmed that Jeff saved their lives by giving them enough time to escape from their nearby campsite as the waters rose.
Steele said he attempted to reach the Ramsey’s cabin after Jeff warned them, but it was too late — as related in this story from ABC News affiliate WFAA out of Dallas:
The family of a Lewisville couple swept away during the deadly flooding in Kerr County is speaking out, describing a harrowing final phone call and desperate rescue attempt.
Eric Steele confirmed to WFAA on July 8 that his brother-in-law, Jeff Ramsey, is still missing, and sister, Tanya Ramsey, was found deceased.
Floodwaters rushed through the HTR campground along the Guadalupe River in Kerrville overnight on Friday, where the family was staying.
The couple had been camping with family members since Thursday. Jeff and Tanya were staying in a separate cabin on the opposite side of the campsite, Steele said.
ADVERTISEMENTWhen the floodwaters rose, it was Jeff who called the rest of the family by phone, waking them up and warning them to evacuate. Steele said without that call, they might not have survived.
“I was trying to get to their cabin, but I didn’t make it,” Steele told WFAA. “He saved me and he saved my mom.”
He said he was on the phone with Jeff and Tanya as the situation quickly unfolded. The couple begged for help and told Steele they didn’t think they were going to make it.
“They asked me to tell their kids they love them,” he said.
Steele called the couple “heroes” for saving other members of the family. He described Jeff and Tanya as a deeply loved couple—Tanya recently beat cancer.
“They were perfect,” Steele said.
The stories of heroism and bravery are only now starting to come to light following one of the most tragic floods in Texas history.
With so much politicization happening already, along with the obvious questions about responsibility…
And with several more storms having popped up over the last couple of days across the nation requiring rescue efforts…
I wanted to make sure, with THIS story, that the individual lives don’t get permanently smothered by the politics.
I have questions about the causation of that weather system, as I’m sure many of you do.
And if there ARE legitimate issues regarding negligence that led to these deaths… I want the lessons to be learned, and implemented, to save future lives.
But more than anything I want the lives — and deaths — of the individuals who experienced this in real time to have their full impact on the rest of us.
Jeff Ramsey, as far as I can tell, lived a life of meaning; and died with that same purposeful selflessness.
Even in the last moments before his likely certain death… he found a way to focus on others, benefit others in ways that would outlast his life, and literally save lives — even when it was too late for him and Tanya.
And if we never ‘know’ exactly what caused that storm system, or find someone to hold ‘responsible’…
The lesson of selflessness and love that Jeff Ramsey left in his wake is one that all of us would be better for paying attention to.
What’s your take?
Join the conversation!
Please share your thoughts about this article below. We value your opinions, and would love to see you add to the discussion!