20 Years, 20 Stories – Kevin Dickson: Like a Good Neighbor
Years Active: 2017-2025
Kevin Dickson retired from the insurance industry in 2017. Like his employer’s slogan declares, Kevin felt the need to do what good neighbors do: Be there…for others.
“I worked as an adjuster, so I was accustomed to seeing the outcomes of disasters. Also, the company would encourage employees to volunteer after disasters hit and I helped in that way, too. Finding new ways to help after retiring only made sense to me,” he said.
An outdoorsman, he was in New Mexico for a fishing trip and saw a posting about a search-and-rescue group posted in a WalMart. Curious about such organizations, he scouted the internet for similar organizations when he got home to Texas. The search turned up TEXSAR.
“I love the notion of ‘Texans helping Texans’ (TEXSAR’s tagline). TEXSAR volunteers have also helped in other states. I joined in 2017. It took me a year to get my various certifications and training, such as CPR, the FEMA classes and GSAR (Ground Search and Rescue) training. TEXSAR members comprise teams of people who are all involved for the same reasons. We always fit together as a team with common purposes and training.”
Kevin recalls his early missions, including helping during floods in Junction, TX when people were washed away on the Llano River. “My next mission was looking for a dementia patient in Odessa,” he said. “We found him face up, like he was sleeping, only 300 yards from his home. He had died of hypothermia. The bad news had the good effect of providing closure for the family. You can’t help but remember the missions and the people.”
He says that emotions creep in during missions. “I thought that because of my work in the insurance field that I would be ready for whatever I would encounter in TEXSAR. No matter how prepared you think you are, reality is different when you find a deceased person. We’re trained though, and we’re there for a purpose, so logic sets in to help us deal with the outcomes. Being there for total strangers in what could be the worst day in their lives is humbling and solemn.”
Kevin lives in Lubbock, far from many of the other TEXSAR volunteers, though he often travels the distances required to get to missions. “I like the scheduled sort of missions like missing person searches. It makes it easier to help instead of the need to drop everything for an unknown period of time for emergency missions. It would be good to have more members in my area. I still feel a part of the team, thanks to the TEXSAR culture, but I also hope that the new Community Support team will attract more members from around the state.”
Kevin’s motivation is deeply rooted in his faith. “It plays a big part for me,” he said. “Wouldn’t anyone appreciate that another, a total stranger, is willing to put their own life on the line for their sake? What would Jesus do, right? Sometimes we are called upon to find the lost sheep. TEXSAR members step up as teams to help find the missing and comfort the hurt while completing our missions.”
He sees his role changing over time. “I don’t want to be a problem on a mission; I want to always be an asset. I’m getting older and my condition is changing so there are some things I can’t, and shouldn’t, do now. I can still serve. There will always be a place for someone in TEXSAR if they want to serve others.”
Learn more about TEXSAR at www.TEXSAR.org.
TEXSAR: 20 Years, 20 Stories, is a series of people-centric stories that celebrate the history of TEXSAR’s heroics and humanity as its volunteers continue their mission of ‘Texans helping Texans’ with Service above Self. The sequence of stories and profiles will come together in 2024 and 2025, celebrating the nonprofit’s 20th anniversary. To read more, click here.
