On July 4, 2025, Richard (Dick) Gillespie Eastland passed away at the age of 70. Born in Houston, Texas, on August 28, 1954, to Anne and Seaborn Eastland, Dick was a beloved husband of his high school sweetheart, Willetta (Tweety) Albritton, and the father of four sons, Richard, Britt, James, and Edward.

Dick and Tweety were married on May 30, 1975, in Houston at St. Martin's Episcopal Church. After graduating a year later from the University of Texas at Austin, the couple went directly to Camp Mystic in Hunt, Texas, to work under the guidance of his grandmother, Agnes Doren Stacy, and directors Inez and Frank Harrison. There, they made their home and life together, dedicated to the physical, social, and spiritual nurturing of campers aged eight to seventeen, with kindness and goodness as their guiding principles.

Dick's love of camping was inspired at an early age during the summer months, when he visited his grandmother, Ag, at Mystic and attended Camp Rio Vista, both as a camper and a counselor. Dick and Tweety became co-directors of Camp Mystic in 1987, and over the following thirty-eight years, Dick oversaw its growth in both popularity and structural expansion. He oversaw the completion in 2020 of Cypress Lake Camp, their new camp adjacent to the original Guadalupe site.

Along with his beloved family, Dick's passions were his Christian faith and the growth and welfare of the girls of Camp Mystic. With Tweety, he considered his work at Mystic a ministry, guiding generations of campers in a love of nature, an understanding and experience of true friendship, and a deepening of their spiritual lives.

Each summer, Dick offered a fishing class, which soon became one of Mystic's most popular activities. He was most content when he was teaching campers along Cypress Creek. One of his mottos was ''Give a girl a fish, and you feed her for a day. Teach a girl to fish, and you feed her for a lifetime.''

Dick graduated from the University of Texas with a degree in Business Administration, was a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity, and a life member of the Texas Exes. He believed that the sun rose and set in burnt orange. He was an avid handball and tennis player and loved bird hunting and fishing with family and friends. Dick was also devoted to his Emmaus Bible Study group. He loved hosting family yard parties and attending his grandchildren's school and sporting events, as well as celebrating holidays with them.

Dick shared his time and leadership skills, coaching his sons' Little League baseball and basketball, and with several organizations serving the Texas Hill Country, including the Hunt School Board and the Upper Guadalupe River Authority (UGRA), as well as playing a significant role in founding the Camping Association for Mutual Progress (C.A.M.P.). He and Tweety were recent recipients of the Texoma Legends of Camping Award from the American Camp Association. He was a member of St. Peter's Episcopal Church and First United Methodist Church in Kerrville and worked with Camp Cardinal Bereavement Outreach.

Dick is preceded in death by his parents, his son, James Moulton Eastland, and his grandson, John James Eastland.

Survivors include his wife of 50 years, Tweety, sons Richard (and wife Leslie and their children Carolyn Clare and Peggy Ann), Britt (and his wife Catie and their children George, Charlie, and Elizabeth), Edward (and his wife Mary Liz, and their children, Edward, Andrew, Walker, and Pierce), and his daughter-in-law Lindsay Eastland of Kerrville and her children Caroline and Anna. He also is survived by his brother Stacy Eastland (and wife, Tara), of Houston and his sister, Nancy Leaton (and husband, Barry) of Brenham, sisters-in-law Anne Albritton of Madrid, Spain, Pat Harloe (and husband, John) of Dallas, brothers-in-law George Albritton (and wife Liz) of Houston, and Frank Albritton of Kerrville, and numerous nieces and nephews. ''Daddy Dicky, you will always be our hero.''

A celebration of Dick's life will be held at a later date. The family asks those wishing to express sympathy consider making a gift to Heaven's 27 Fund of the San Antonio Area Foundation in memory of the precious Camp Mystic campers and counselors whose lives were lost too soon.

The Eastland family is humbled and grateful and would like to extend their deep gratitude to the First Responders, Matthew 6 Group, Navy SEALs, members of the EOC, Samaritans' Purse, Team Rubicon, Mercy Chefs, World Central Kitchen, H-E-B, Grape Juice, Lift Coffee, local restaurants, Texas DPS, volunteers, Camp Mystic alumnae, Hunt, Ingram and Kerrville ISDs, Tivy High School athletes and coaches, our amazing Hill Country community, Episcopal Relief & Development, so many ministries and churches across the nation, and countless others who gave their time and efforts so generously.

''Community is like a large mosaic. Each little piece seems so insignificant. All those little stones are brought together in one big mosaic portraying the face of Christ, and reflecting God's light in the world.''

Matthew 4:19 Jesus called out to them, ''Come follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.''

John 15:12-13 ''This is my Commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you. There is no greater love than to lay down one's life for one's friends. You are my friends if you do what I command.''

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