As the floodwaters began to swallow his RV in Kerrville, Texas, Jeff Ramsey made a final, selfless act—he picked up his phone and called his family. Not to panic them, but to warn them. To give them a chance he knew he might not have. On the other end of that call, his son, Jake Ramsey, would later say it was that call—his father’s voice—that gave him the courage to act and survive.
But the cost was steep. Jake lost both his father and his stepmother, Tanya, to the devastating flood. And while he continues searching for answers—and closure—there’s one small, miraculous gift that remains: Khloe, the family dog, survived. She was discovered at a local animal shelter, soaked, shaken, but alive.
Jake joined us in what can only be called an unthinkable moment of grief—and grace.
“We woke up on the Fourth of July to a voicemail no one should ever get,” Jake said softly. “Dad said he loved us… that he loved my sister. And then, just: ‘I think this is it.’” The message was brief. Final. Impossible to forget.
Jeff Ramsey was more than a father. He was a man of immense heart—a community pillar, a veterans’ advocate, a patriot who lived to serve others. “He helped people get through things most never talk about. He just gave and gave and gave,” Jake recalled, his voice catching.
In a tragic twist, the final warning from Jeff wasn’t just to Jake—it reached other family members too. His call also went out to his stepmother’s brother and mother, who were staying in a cabin nearby. By the time the message reached them, the flood had already surged—but still, it may have helped save a life. Jeff’s warning gave his loved ones just enough time to act. And one last life was saved, adding to a legacy of countless others he’d protected during his life.
Among the living was Khloe, the young pup Jeff and Tanya loved dearly. “She was found somewhere between Ingram and Kerrville, near where Tanya’s phone washed up,” Jake said. “To have her back… that’s a piece of my dad and Tanya I can still hold.”
Khloe, still barely a year and a half old, sat beside Jake as he spoke. A soft, quivering heartbeat with fur. “She’s fragile, but she’s here,” he said, holding her close. “She’s a blessing from God. We’re going to pour our love into her—for the years my dad won’t get to.”
In the aftermath of the tragedy, Jake has already taken his grief and turned it toward action. He met with Texas State Senator Tan Parker to advocate for improvements to the state’s emergency alert system. The current setup, Jake says, failed his family.
“The only warning Dad got,” he explained, “was a message from the RV park telling people to grab their things and go to Walmart. That was it. No real flood alert. Nothing from the county.” And by the time that message came, it was already too late.
Jake expressed cautious optimism: “Senator Parker knew my dad. He told me we’re going to get something done. That we’ll put protections in place. So no other family has to hear a message like that again.”
Jeff Ramsey loved his country—“but not in a red or blue kind of way,” Jake clarified. “He just believed that, especially in moments of tragedy, we should come together. Not divide.”
In the end, Jake clutched Khloe tightly, a symbol of survival and hope. And when asked about the voicemail, he nodded. “I’ll never delete it. It’s my dad. And that voice… that voice saved lives.”