OBITUARY: Ace Myrick, 71, was champion for despondent children, advocate for downtrodden
Ace Edmond Myrick (aka Eddie, Ed, Buffalo) was born in Corpus Christi, Texas, to Ace Curtis Myrick and Janie Omega Williams Myrick on Dec. 14, 1941. He died Feb. 1, 2013.
Ace was preceded in death by his wife, Marilyn Ann Haynes Myrick; son Ryan Edmond Myrick; his parents; father-in-law Noel Haynes; and brothers-in-law Haywood Smith and Edward Appleton. He is survived by son Ace Riede Myrick and wife Tasha of Giddings; grandchildren Macey and Laiken Myrick of Giddings; mother-in-law Josephine Haynes of Brady; sister Janet Smith of San Antonio; brother Curtis Myrick and wife Linda of Burnet; sister-in-law Joyce Appleton of Eden; brother-in-law Byron Haynes and wife MaryAnn of Angleton; brother-in-law Garland Haynes and wife Jan of San Angelo; dear friend Kathy Pietsch of Giddings; 14 nephews and nieces; and numerous cousins, extended family and other dear friends.
Ace was a member of the Sinton Masonic Lodge 1012 in Sinton, the Texas Sheriffs Association and the Fraternal Order of Eagles in Granite Shoals.
He grew up in and attended school in Sinton, graduating in 1960. A multi-sport athlete, he was drafted in the 1960 Spring Baseball draft. He chose to attend Rice University on a football scholarship and also played baseball. After a car accident briefly sidelined him, he transferred to Howard Payne College in Brownwood and played football.
Having left part of three fingers in a South Texas oil field, he finished his undergraduate degree in December 1965. Ace went to work at the Texas Youth Council for Gatesville State Schools in 1966 as a teacher and a coach. After several unsuccessful professional football tryouts, Ace embarked on a progressive path of positions at several of the Gatesville units, becoming a unit superintendent in 1969. He pursued his master’s degrees and graduated with a master’s in criminal justice from the American Technological Institute — now the University of Central Texas in Killeen — and a master’s in criminal psychology from Sam Houston State University in Huntsville.
In 1971, he was made unit superintendent of the Mountain View School for Boys, where he participated in the Federal Juvenile Justice Court case Turman v. Morales. In 1974, Ace turned the Mountain View Unit over to the Texas Department of Corrections, where he stayed on as the first chief of security, assisting to reopen the facility in 1975 and establishing the Windham School District there.
In between institutional stints, he returned to working in the oil fields of South and south-Central Texas. In 1977, he became the assistant superintendent of the Giddings State School. Throughout his TYC career, he moved around to apply his talents where needed. His travels took him to the West Texas Children’s Home, Crockett State School, Brownwood State School and, finally, the Central Office in Austin. A consummate champion for despondent children and an advocate for the downtrodden, he applied his passion to help others with a direct style of discipline and perseverance.
Retiring in 1993, Ace pursued lifelong hobbies of fishing, hunting and storytelling. He enjoyed cooking, dancing and, most of all, the company of others.
A memorial service is 10 a.m. Feb. 5 at The Chapel of the Hills Baptist Church in Buchanan Dam with the Rev. Sam Crosby officiating. Burial will follow at Resthaven Cemetery in Brady.
The family has requested that memorial contributions be made to The Susan G. Komen Research for the Cure of Breast Cancer, P.O. Box 650309, Dallas, TX 75265-0309
Arrangements by Waldrope-Hatfield-Hawthorne Funeral Home, 307 E. Sandstone in Llano, (325) 247-4300. Condolences may be sent to whhfuneral1@verizon.net or made at www.whhfuneralhome.com.