On a Saturday last August three Texas Parks and Wildlife staffers conducting an aerial survey of bighorn sheep in Texas’s Big Bend country lost their lives when their helicopter crashed in the mountains. One of those was fish and wildlife technician Brandon White, who had grown up in Spur and whose parents still live here.
While Glenda and Ronnie White have dealt with the devastation and loss with grace since that time, they, along with other family members of the victims, appreciated the gesture of the Texas legislature earlier this month when all the victims were honored by a Senate resolution recognizing the men’s contributions to wildlife management.
Wildlife biologist Dewey Stockbridge, 36, wildlife veterinarian Dr. Robert Dittmar, 64, and White, 52, were killed instantly in the crash, according to a TPWD advisory last August. The injured pilot survived.
“No words can begin to express the depth of sadness we feel for the loss of our colleagues in this tragic accident,” said Carter Smith, TPWD executive director at the time. “These men were consummate professionals, deeply liked and highly regarded by their peers and partners alike for the immense passion, dedication and expertise they brought to their important work in wildlife management and veterinary medicine.”
On May 21 the Texas Senate honored the memory of the three TPWD scientists with a memorial. Senator Charles Perry of Lubbock and the rest of the Senate honored their life and work.
Each man was eulogized by the senators who represented them. All three were praised as men who loved the outdoors and worked hard to ensure the preservation of the Texas wilderness for all to enjoy.
Families of all three men were present in the Senate gallery as the body recognized their loved ones.
Senator Dawn Buckingham of Lakeway, who remembered Dr. Dittmar as dedicated veterinarian both in his hometown of Kerrville and in west Texas, where he worked to protect and expand the state's population of Bighorn sheep.
Next, San Antonio Senator Roland Gutierrez, whose Senate District 19 spans west Texas from San Antonio to El Paso, thanked the family of Dewey Stockbridge for the legacy left by their loved one. As the lead wildlife biologist at Elephant Mountain Wildlife Management Area south of Alpine, Stockbridge was instrumental in restoring Bighorn sheep and pronghorn antelope to their native range.
Finally, El Paso Senator César Blanco rose to remember his constituent, Brandon White. White was likewise posted at the Elephant Mountain WMA, working to preserve the native species of that region. A quintessential Texas renaissance man, White was a furniture maker, homebuilder, hotelier, and construction contractor before joining TPWD in 2016. “His passing is tragic,” said Blanco. “Although his journey here on Earth ended way too soon, the memories of his generous nature, I think, are going to remain.”
White left behind a wife, Letty, and four children.
In closing, Perry praised the men, along with all TPWD employees, for their tireless work in preserving the unique and vast Texas countryside. “It’s not by accident that you can just about drop a fishing pole anywhere you go or go to any corner of this state, that you don’t find something to hunt or shoot a picture of,” he said. “That’s because we have quality, dedicated individuals that are committed to making sure our wildlife legacy lives on.”
Read more about these dedicated men in the Texas Parks & Wildlife magazine story, “Bighorn Heroes,” and an in-depth feature by Texas Parks & Wildlife magazine managing editor Russell Roe, “West Texas Icons,” in the January/February 2021 issue.
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