‘They were a huge part of our lives’: Joint funeral honors loved ones lost in Sandy Creek flooding

LIBERTY HILL, TEXAS (KXAN) — Just over three months after catastrophic flooding devastated Central Texas, family members held a joint funeral for their loved ones who lost their lives.

The funeral was hosted at Glad Tidings Church in Liberty Hill and remembered:

• Betty Ruth West, 84
• Gary Alton Traugott, 60
• George “Doug” Douglas West, 54

All three died after the flooding that hit Sandy Creek in Leander on July 5th.

Sherry McCutcheon and Terry Traugott are Betty’s daughters and sisters to Gary and Doug.

“They were a huge part of our lives,” Traugott said. “We always talked to them. We always had our holidays together.”

“Even though they were in their 50s, 60s, they’re still our baby brothers,” said McCutcheon when asked about Gary and Doug. “We still call them the boys—we remember the day they were four.”

Dawn Slack, who was a pastor at Glad Tidings Church in Liberty Hill from 2010 to 2021, said she remembers Betty’s loving nature.

“Back in December she was very ill, so we went and visited her, and she said, ‘Dawn, do you remember what you promised me…you promise that when I pass away, you’ll do my funeral,'” Slack said. “I wasn’t ready for her to leave us, because she had so much life in her.”

Following the funeral, Betty, Gary and Doug were buried at the Bagdad Cemetery in Leander.