07/04/2026
Hard to believe its been a year already! We were honored to have the opportunity to take supplies up there last year for our church. Definitely something that will be remembered and prayed about forever!
One Year Later, Texas Still Remembers the Three Who Never Came Home
As Texas approaches the one year anniversary of the July 4, 2025 floods, the pain of that day still sits heavy across the Hill Country and far beyond it.
The floodwaters came in the dark, turning familiar rivers, camps, roads, and neighborhoods into scenes of heartbreak. The Guadalupe River and surrounding waterways rose with terrifying speed. By the time the sun came up, families were searching, first responders were rushing toward danger, and communities across Texas were beginning to understand that life would never be the same.
More than 100 lives were lost in the disaster. Children, parents, grandparents, campers, counselors, neighbors, friends, and public servants were taken in a tragedy that touched nearly every corner of the state. Over the weeks and months that followed, many families received the devastating closure of bringing their loved ones home.
But for three families, that final goodbye never came.
Cile Steward. Michael Phillips. Jeff Ramsey.
Their names deserve to be spoken with tenderness, with respect, and with the promise that Texas has not forgotten them.
Cile Steward was only 8 years old. She was a child with a whole life still ahead of her, one of the young campers caught in the floodwaters at Camp Mystic, a place that should have been filled with laughter, friendship, songs, and summer memories. Instead, her name became part of a grief too large for words. To remember Cile is to remember the innocence lost that morning, and to hold close the family who has endured a year of waiting no family should ever have to face.
Michael Phillips was a servant in the truest Texas sense of the word. As Fire Chief of the Marble Falls Area Volunteer Fire Department, he was not running from the danger that morning. He was answering the call. He went missing while responding during the flooding, doing what first responders do, putting others before himself. His department later honored his End of Watch, and his community has continued to remember him as a humble hero. His life reminds us that courage is not always loud. Sometimes it looks like a man climbing into a vehicle and going where help is needed most.
Jeff Ramsey was a father, a husband, and a loved member of his community. His story has stayed with so many because behind every name on a casualty list is an entire world of people who loved them. He was more than a victim of a flood. He was someone’s home. Someone’s steady voice. Someone’s memory around the table. Someone whose absence is still felt every single day.
One year later, the river is quieter. The headlines have slowed. The cameras have moved on. But grief does not follow a news cycle. For the families of Cile Steward, Michael Phillips, and Jeff Ramsey, the waiting has not ended. The ache of not being able to bring them home is a wound few can truly understand.
And yet, Texas remembers.
We remember the rescuers who searched through mud, debris, water, heat, exhaustion, and heartbreak. We remember the volunteers who showed up when there was nothing easy left to do. We remember the communities that prayed, donated, cooked meals, held vigils, and refused to let the families grieve alone.
Most of all, we remember the three who were never found.
Cile Steward. Michael Phillips. Jeff Ramsey.
May their names continue to be spoken. May their families continue to be lifted up. May the people of Texas never allow time to erase their stories.
One year later, we honor every life lost in the July 4 floods.
And for the three who never came home, we say this with all our hearts:
You are not forgotten.
You are forever loved.
Texas still remembers.
