Sgt. James Fate Vandygriff -- Garza County Museum, Post TX
N 33° 11.531 W 101° 23.024
14S E 277779 N 3675124
a memorial to Texas Department of Public Safety Sgt. James Fate Vandygriff in front of the Garza County Museum in Post, Texas.
Waymark Code: WMPV60
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 10/22/2015
Views: 4
This gray granite memorial on a concrete pedestal (with black widows living under the lip the pedestal, so be careful not to get too close) stands in the front of the grounds of the Garza County Museum in downtown Post Texas.
The memorial reads as follows:
"[Two feathers attached to a pole]
Dedicated in memory of
SGT. JAMES FATE VANDYGRIFF
September 2, 1952
December 21, 1996
[Department of Public Safety badge]"
Blasterz are not sure why, but we could not find any record of Sgt. Vandygriff on the Officer Down memorial page.
We did find his obituary on Rootsweb: (
visit link)
"Title: Star-Telegram
Abbrev: Star-Telegram
Publication: Star-Telegram, Fort Worth, Texas
Note: Obituary published 24 December 1996, Page 8:
MINERAL WELLS - James Fate Vandygriff, 44, a Department of Public Safety investigator, died Saturday in Weatherford.
Funeral: 10 a.m. Thursday at First Baptist Church in Santo. Burial: Santo Cemetery.
James Fate Vandygriff was born Sept. 2, 1952, in Porterville, Calif.
Baum-Carlock-Bumgardner Mineral Wells, (817) 325-4422"
And we found a photo on Find-A-Grave. (
visit link)
Because we could find little information about Sgt. Vandygriff, Blasterz are left to hypothesize that this memorial was placed in Post because he had formerly been assigned to patrol here.
Sgt. Vandygriff died in Weatherford, and is buried in Mineral Wells, cities that are several hundred miles away from here.