Camp Owner Died Helping Campers, Family ‘Trying to Make Sense’ of Tragedy

The family of Dick and Tweety Eastland, the owners of the all-girls camp where at least 27 died due to the devastating Texas floods, is focusing on helping the families of campers and counselors while trying to process their own grief.

Camp Mystic co-owner Dick Eastland, 70, died while trying to save campers’ lives. His wife Tweety survived.

“The Eastland family is absolutely crushed,” Jeff Carr, spokesman for the family and Camp Mystic, tells PEOPLE. “But their focus is fighting through that grief to stay connected with the families of their campers and helping them in any way they can.”

Family members remain “in a bit of a fog,” he says.

“They were in the water with kids,” he adds. “They are trying to make sense of this from a lot of different angles.”

More than 120 people have died in the Texas flooding with at least 160 more missing, according to CNN.

Power was just restored to the Texas camp on Thursday, July 10, Carr said, and the camp posted a message on its website reading, “Our Mystic girls will forever shine just like Matthew 5:14-16 because you girls are the light of the world.”

Dick and Tweety, directors of the private Christian summer camp, had been with the camp since 1974 and were third-generation managers of the facility, which has been in their family since 1939, according to the Camp Mystic website.

The couple welcomed four children, one of whom died in 2015. Over the years, all of their kids have been involved with the camp. 

Their son Richard is head chef and kitchen supervisor while Edward, another son, and his wife Mary Liz are directors of Camp Mystic Guadalupe River, Camp Mystic’s original camp. Additionally, son Britt and his wife Catie are directors at Camp Mystic Cypress Lake, the newest camp, which opened in 2020.

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Throughout this difficult time, the Eastland family is leaning on the wider camp community for support.

“You’ve got this greater Camp Mystic family that extends to families all across the country who’ve been campers,” Carr said. “That’s a network of family that really has an amazing lasting bond that they’re really relying on, that they’re really leaning on in this time of grief.”

At the same time, he said, “they’re trying hard to continue to be supportive in the community.”

Carr added that the family is not trying to stop anyone from telling their own stories. “They’re not trying to obstruct people’s ability to tell their stories or express their views,” he said. “Not at all.”

In time, he said, family members could be willing to share their own experiences.

“It’s not at a point where they feel like they could turn away for even a minute from what they’re focused on right now with the families,” Carr said. “There’s a lot to navigate here and they need people’s patience and understanding.”

The Eastland’s son Britt reiterates to PEOPLE that the family isn’t speaking out right now, saying, “we are trying to keep our focus on the families of lost loved ones.”

To learn how to help support the victims and recovery efforts from the Texas floods, click here.