Ranger Stan Guffey memorialized in Horseshoe Bay

By Glynis Crawford Smith

The Highlander

Texas Rangers and other Texas Department of Public Safety and law enforcement officials swelled the crowd from Horseshoe Bay Saturday, Jan. 21, to memorialize Ranger Stanley Keith “Stan” Guffey.

The event marked the 30th Anniversary of the event Jan. 22, 1987, in which Ranger Guffey died in the line of duty, rescuing a two-year-old kidnap victim in Horseshoe Bay. The Texas Department of Public Safety and its Texas Ranger division, the Texas Ranger Association, retired Texas Ranger Association and the City of Horseshoe Bay and local businesses sponsored the event for the unveiling of a Texas Ranger monument from the People of the State of Texas.

“Texas Rangers are woven from a special fabric,” said Josefina Garza Guffey Jennings, Guffey's widow, when she addressed the crowd. “It is not that that Rangers are extraordinary men, it is that extraordinary men , and now women, join the Texas Rangers.”

She spoke of sharing his dream to become a Ranger, a force then of 96 men and now of 150 men and women. She said she spoke on behalf of the rest of Guffey's family, including his sons, Mike Guffey of Marlow, Oklahoma; Stacy Guffey of Allen; Chris Guffey of Washington,D.C., and Travis Guffey of Mansfield and his sister Brenda Perrin of Canadian.

“We, the Rangers of today, understand our reputation is built on the shoulders of Stan Guffey,” said Texas Ranger Chief Randall “Randy” Prince. “Without hesitation, he put his life on the line to save a child...We are eternally proud and humbled by the sacrifice...”

Chief Prince recounted the events in which Guffey, then stationed out of Brady, joined Ranger Sgt. John Aycock in a plan to save Kara Leigh Whitehead, daughter of Bill and Leigh Whitehead.

Brent Albert Beeler, a parolee from Houston who was wanted for forgery, had made his way to Horseshoe Bay, where he barricaded himself inside a house. He murdered the family's 22-year-old maid, Denise Johnson, and demanded $30,000 and a car to release the child.

When the car was delivered, Guffey and Aycock, convinced Beeler would murder the child as well, were concealed in the back seat.

Rather than releasing the child, Beeler placed her and the ransom money in the vehicle, where he was confronted by the Rangers. In an attempt to avoid bloodshed, Guffey identified them as Rangers, but was mortally wounded by the kidnapper. Beeler died in the exchange of gunfire and Aycock successfully pulled the girl from the car.

Guffey was awarded the Texas Ranger Medal of Valor posthumously in 1987. Sgt. Aycock, now retired and a member of the audience Saturday, received the award in 1987 as well and another in 1995 for the rescue of a child in a hostage situation.

Also recognized was Terry Fletcher, at the time of the incident a Lower Colorado River Authority Ranger, who transported Guffey to the hospital.

Horseshoe Bay Police Chief Rocky Wardlow, a former Texas Ranger, presented Guffey's widow a buoy that is a duplicate of the one that now deignates the Horseshoe Bay Police Patrol Vessell as the PPV Stan Guffey. He also presented a framed version of the proclamation of Stan Guffey Day in City of Horseshoe Bay that was read at the ceremony by City Manager Stan Farmer on behalf of Mayor Steve Jordan.

Guffey was a native of Perryton in the Panhandle's Ochiltree County and Perryton Chief of Police William “Tony” Hill also presented a proclamation on behalf of that city's mayor, Charles Kelly.

"I am incredibly fortunate and humble to represent the Texas Rangers Association Foundation (TRAF) and am proud of the support we provide to the families of these brave officers," said Jim Chionsini, chariman of TRAF Board of Directors. "The huge crowd that assembled to honor Ranger Duffey and his family is proof that the community of Horseshoe Bay, the Highland Lakes and the State of Texas supports the Rangers and all of our law enforcement community."