Years Active: 2015-Present Bill Sleep recounts his first TEXSAR meeting in 2015 when attendees were asked, “Do you like to get muddy? Have you ever slept in a ditch? Do you like being outdoors?” He replied, “Yes, yes and yes.” The match was made whereas previous attempts to volunteer for various organizations did not prove to be aligned with his interests, skills and background. Bill joined TEXSAR at 67 years old. Blending a love for adventure...
Years Active: 2013-Present Charlie Grove loves the outdoors and in early 2013, he searched the web for possible organizations with which to place his desire to serve in ways that took him outside. As luck would have it, he discovered TEXSAR and its upcoming meeting was just a few minutes from his home. “I enjoyed meeting the people and seeing their commitment,” Charlie said. “All the meetings after that were on the other side of Austin,”...
Years Active: 2015-Present Jamine Doty’s first major experience with emergency response came when she and her sister helped save the life of a Texas Department of Public Safety officer who was hit by a car as he got out of his vehicle. They were high school students at the time. “An hour after we got home, it all hit me. I had been a lifeguard for years, so I knew first aid and the importance of controlling...
Years Active: 2016-Present “When I got out of the hospital after about four days, I went to the local church where people were serving food to the volunteers who were helping with the searches and clean up. I wanted to thank them for their work, and when I introduced myself as Jonathan McComb, they would say, ‘You’re the one who survived!’ I knew that God allowed me to survive for a reason. Expressing my gratitude to the...
Years Active: 2015-Present Amy Shoe has been an active member of TEXSAR for nine years, ever since attending her first two divisional meetings after a friend suggested she look into the organization. Since joining, she has been active in just about everything that TEXSAR does and is now the Assistant Division Leader – Central Texas Division. The secret sauce to her interest and her ongoing commitment is simple. “A friend told me about TEXSAR. I have volunteered for...
Justen Noakes’ career that kept him primarily behind a computer where he blended his education in social science and industrial engineering had him often asking if/then questions related to emergency management. If such and such happens, then this is the response. Over and over the scenarios are examined. A firm believer in continual learning and training, he attended an emergency management course in Houston and learned about TEXSAR from Greg Pyles, CEO of TEXSAR at that time.. The...
“I am just a country boy. I love the outdoors. I’ve worked hard all my life. I began working at 8 and began paying taxes at 10,” said Shawn Hohnstreiter, one of the most influential and long-standing influences in the 20-year history of TEXSAR. He is a builder of many things. Shawn is quick to not take credit for what has been the result of many people’s efforts to create, expand and develop TEXSAR to what it is today, but that...
For Hector Padilla, a lot of dominoes lined up perfectly that led to career and volunteer decisions that have formed the pattern of his life. He graduated from the University of Texas at Austin (UT) in 1998 with a degree in physical geography. A few months later, the Honduran native was monitoring aid and relief efforts in the news after Category 5 Hurricane Mitch had torn through Central America. “I realized then that I knew what I...
Years Active: 2013 – Present “If ordinary people like me can learn skills and become helpful, anyone can,” said TEXSAR volunteer and Division Lead for North Texas, Meg Hinkley. It helps to have a heart to serve, which she says she sees in her fellow TEXSAR volunteers. Meg joined TEXSAR in 2014 and became Division Lead in January 2024. Her leadership was integral to TEXSAR’s response to the Panhandle Wildfires in March 2024. It has been quite a...
Years Active: 2013-Present “We prefer to stay under the radar,” TEXSAR (Texas Search and Rescue) volunteer Joe Huston said. “We don’t see ourselves as heroes, though there are, truthfully, a lot of heroics in the work that all the team members do. Without a doubt.” Huston has been involved in the search-and-rescue arena for more than 25 years. He joined TEXSAR in 2013. “I first got involved in this work when I lived in The Woodlands...
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