Refugio County Press (Refugio, Tex.), Vol. 52, No. 21, Ed. 1 Thursday, December 29, 2011 Page: 1 of 14
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Volume 52, No. 29
www.mysoutex.com
Deaths in
2011
Cause of home fire still unknown
January
Virginia Darlene Dodson, 40
Lucia G. Garza, 64
Robert Silguero, 57
Mary Virginia “Ginger” Moon
Burnside, 81
Leo Cantu Sr., 81
Gilbert Guerrero, 69
Shirley Boenig Richarz, 75
February
Caswell Emitt Brown, 95
Jessie Perez Valenzuela, 68
Gregory Morgan Garza, 53
Leonardo D. “Rawhide” Perez,
69
Maria Magdalena Rodriguez,
86
Lena Dedear Stark, 92
Boyd Harmon “Tiny” Berry,
89
John B. Roberts, 98
March
Robert M. Blackwell Sr., 71
Floyd Bracken, 84
Victor K. Burke
Bobbie Elaine Claybrook
Leshikar, 80
Baldemar “Boise” Galvan
Longoria, 60
Dr. Chester Bertram
Richardson, 88
Winona Brymer Harms, 92
Ramona Perez, 89
James Lester Quinn, 81
Zack Ross Williams, 87
Dorthie E. (Mayes) Earnest,
86
Fey Ellen Goodwin Gipson
Linda Moore Holsey, 65
April
William Dennis Claybrook, 56
Norma Evelyn Olson
Isabel C. Garza, 81
Jennifer Sue Jacks Henley, 64
Irene Kloesel Williamson, 85
May
John Thomas Self, 38
Sadie Menchaca Soliz, 74
Norma Jean Cooper Bracken,
83
Robert Gamblin, 73
Gaviran Rene Haertig, 38
Eloy Orosco Moya, 62
Franklin Delano Upton, 70
Louis H. Valenzuela, 58
Gary W. Thomas, 54
Michelle Dianne Wallace, 43
Freddie Mumphord Kirkland,
92
Alfred “Coach” Marshall, 71
Consuelo Ortiz, 65
Vernon Guy Mase, 74
Johnnie Kaye Sisson
McCauley Alexander, 67
Captain Oscar Gene Shaw Jr.,
47
June
Karen Johnson Freligh, 45
John Barber Kelley Jr., 57
Richard Marion Phillips, 86
Robert Cecil Staples, 97
George Robert “Archie”
Archambeault, 77
Barbara J. Bradshaw, 76
Isabel “Chavelo” Guitierrez,
53
Vivian Merle Stiles Dickinson,
93
Luisa Irma Garcia, 82
Everett Wayne Carroll, 47
Ray Edward “Baby Ray”
(See Deaths, 4A)
Deaths
By KENDA NELSON
Editor, County Press
The cause of a fire that result-
ed in Teresa Monrad’s death 14
days after a fire swept through
the Monrad home on Dec. 8,
may never be determined.
The fire erupted at 11 p.m. on
Nov. 25 on the front screened-
in porch of Kenneth and
Teresa Monrad’s double-wide
mobile home on Reed Street in
Woodsboro.
Chris Janson, a deputy state
fire marshal, worked close-
ly with Refugio County Chief
Deputy Sheldon Wiginton on
the investigation.
“We crawled around in the
mud collecting evidence by
hand,” Wiginton said. “We
brought in a dog to check for
accelerants and we checked with
the National Weather Service.
We still don’t have any evidence
to say definitively what caused
the fire.”
The night was clear and the
wind was blowing at 2 miles
per hour, which would not carry
embers from another source,
Wiginton said.
“All the witnesses say the
flames were going straight
up,” Wiginton said. “When I
got there, the flames were still
going straight up. The weather
was warm and dry and no heat-
ers were being used.”
Although Kenneth is a smok-
er, the deputy said he had a
fail-safe method for putting out
cigarettes in a can filled with
sand.
“The fire did not start where
he smoked on the porch; we did
determine that,” Wiginton said.
The couple was asleep when
their dogs began to bark and
alerted them to the fire.
“Kenneth grabbed the two
dogs and went out the back
door through the mud room,”
Wiginton said. “Teresa was right
behind him. When he got outside,
he put the dogs over the chain
link fence to
keep them
from run-
ning back
into the
house. For
some rea-
son, she
didn’t follow
him out of
the house.”
Kenneth
ran back
inside the
house,
according to
Wiginton.
“They had a large fire extin-
guisher in the mud room,” the
chief deputy said. “The near-
est we can figure is that she
took the fire extinguisher and
went back to the bedroom to try
and extinguish the fire and save
their home.”
When Kenneth discovered she
did not come out, he went back
inside. The home had filled with
smoke so Kenneth crawled on
the floor, found Teresa in the
bedroom and dragged her out-
side.
She was airlifted to Corpus
Christi and then to Brooks
Army Medical Center in San
Antonio. She died at 1:15 a.m.
on Dec. 8 from an infection from
burns sustained in the fire.
Kenneth’s injuries were
obtained after he went back into
the home, Wiginton said.
As of last Tuesday, Kenneth
was still undergoing treatment
at BAMC in San Antonio.
“Chris Janson and I put in
three straight days trying to
reach a conclusion,” Wiginton
said. “Kenneth was cooperative
and helpful.”
Unfortunately, the area on
the porch where the fire origi-
nated was totally destroyed.
“This will bother me the
remainder of my career,”
Wiginton said.
Newsmakers of the year: Bobcats and 6 Boro’s dome
By KENDA NELSON
Editor, County Press
This year, the Bobcats thrilled
their fans, angered their oppo-
nents, and put themselves in
the record books.
At the beginning of the sea-
son, Coach Jason Herring didn’t
mince words: the 2011 team
was special, collectively and
individually. And each week on
the gridiron, they proved him
right.
Sophomore quarterback
Travis Quintanilla was select-
ed offensive MVP for the state
game, AP Player of the Year,
first team state quarterback, and
this week, Victoria Advocate’s
All Area Most Valuable Player
of the Year - all divisions.
Also an all-state pick, Cory
Brown was the defensive MVP
for the state game and Victoria’s
(See State, 14A)
Towns, schools e; eing Woodsboro’s dome
By KENDA NELSON
Editor, County Press
Three years ago,
Woodsboro ISD need-
ed a gymnasium for its
junior high. A gym was
included in the commu-
nity-supported $9.9 mil-
lion bond issue for major
construction and building
upgrades.
However, the project
got underway in the mid-
dle of a construction boom
and funds were tight.
Undaunted, school offi-
cials cast old paradigms
aside and began to think
outside the box. School
Briefs
board member Henry
Fierova went “all over the
south looking at domes,”
said Steven Self, WISD
superintendent.
After investigating
their options, the board
reached a decision: a
monolithic all-purpose
dome not only met the
school’s needs but the
community’s as well. In
October, the dome was
completed and the final
volleyball game inaugu-
rated the building.
Woodsboro’s dome has
heads turning all across
Texas. School and city
officials have been blaz-
ing a trail to the coastal
community to visit and
follow Woodsboro’s lead.
“We’ve had visits
with Tidehaven, Edna,
Banquete, Corpus Christi
'The payback
is six years.
After that, we
should have
free energy for
the school dis-
trict/
— Steven Self,
WISD superintendent
- the school district and
the city, Brownsville
school district and city,
and UT-Pan American at
Edinburg,” said Steven
Self, WISD superinten-
dent. “Some from deep
East Texas in the Orange-
Beaumont area also are
interested in building
one. There’s been more
but I can’t remember all
of them.”
Self and the school
board worked with city
and county officials to
obtain a $1.6 million
Department of Homeland
Security and FEMA
grant for the dome. The
steel-reinforced concrete
building meets Federal
Emergency Management
Agency standards for
near-absolute protection
from hurricanes.
The community did not
have a shelter for first
responders and other
emergency personnel who
cannot evacuate, so that
need was met as well.
“The elementary school
is all glass so the rest
rooms were the only place
to go,” Self said. “This
was a big safety issue for
the elementary students.”
In March 2010, con-
struction got underway
on the 22,000-square foot
multi-purpose dome.
“We have witnessed
so many times how
many people are unable
to evacuate during
(See ‘Boro, 14A)
Fransisco Basaldua
Lupe Tellez Thompson
James Allen Payne
Index
Classifieds
Community
Church
Obits
Sports
Page 7 A
Page 5 A
Page 6 A
Page 2A
Page 13A
B&G Club
registration
The Boys & Girls
Club Basketball
Registration deadline
is Friday, Dec. 30 for
children ages 6-12.
Membership is $35 for
the year. A late fee will
be charged after the
date.
RISD classes
Refugio Independent
School District will
resume classes on
Wednesday, Jan. 4.
Tuesday, Jan. 3 will
be a teachers work day
and student holiday.
Kenda Nelson photo
Woodsboro ISD superintendent and school board members cast only meet their need for a gym but for a strong building that
aside paradigms as to what a gymnasium should look like and the entire community can use as a shelter from hurricanes and
searched for an efficient, cost-effective building that would not tornadoes.
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Nelson, Kenda. Refugio County Press (Refugio, Tex.), Vol. 52, No. 21, Ed. 1 Thursday, December 29, 2011, newspaper, December 29, 2011; Refugio, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth740432/m1/1/?q=Lamar+University: accessed June 6, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Dennis M. O’Connor Public Library.