Freezing temps takes life of homeless Mexia man
By Roxanne Thompson
An 81-year-old man tragically died Sunday morning, Feb. 21, in Mexia in the severe cold.
Robert “Bob” Wack was homeless; he lived and slept in the broken-down cab of a tractor trailer near Belknap and the railroad overpass.
“After all of that storm, I had a really sick realization, thinking about him,” said homeless advocate Sunday Crider, “so I texted the chief of police and I guess they sent someone over the next day because that’s when they found him.
When Mexia police did a welfare check, that morning, they found Wack’s lifeless body in the cab.
Local food distribution ministries used to help him with food and water. He had an income, but was unable to cash his monthly checks. For some reason, Wack did not seek help beyond asking neighbors to get him food with some of the money he had.
Family information on Wack was unknown, though he occasionally mentioned his “children,” but he was very close-mouthed about them. He had lived in St. Louis previously and also possibly in New Jersey before that. According to his obituary, Bob pulled into Mexia one day around 2013 and decided to stay. He was an Army veteran and a long-haul trucker.
Bob is survived by his dog, a little Lhasa apso mix, his constant companion. Those who knew him say he always made sure his dog was fed first and had the best of his food.
Bob Crider, whose daughter Sunday Crider was one of those who checked on Wack and occasionally took him food and water, commented on the veteran’s life and death.
“He received a government check of about $2,000 every month but didn't have a bank account,” Bob Crider said, “and his driver's license was long out of date, so he could not get his checks cashed. He could have opened a bank account and solved the problem, but that was not part of his logic.
“So Ol' Bob was homeless by choice,” Bob Crider said, “part of the mental aspect of the homeless that cannot be considered for the government to intervene. According to the law, intervention by the government can only occur if the person is suicidal or harmful to others. So Ol' Bob just froze to death. Sunday asked the police to do a welfare check and they found him there in the truck, dead. There were checks in the truck too, uncashed.
“It is sad to have no family,” Bob Crider said. “It is sad to die alone. It is sad to be mentally unsound. It is sad to be homeless. It is sad to freeze to death … and it is sad to have a funeral attended only by the Stubbs family and Sunday Crider. Maybe someone else will show up.”
A Celebration of Life for Wack is scheduled for 10 a.m. on Thursday, March 4, at Blair-Stubbs Funeral Home, with the Rev. Jenn Pick officiating. Blair-Stubbs has donated the cost of the service. Those planning to attend the service are asked to wear face masks to protect all from illness.
Sunday Crider is working with the Veterans Administration to arrange a future burial in a Veterans Administration cemetery.
Cutlines
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Robert “Bob” Wack lived in the cab of a semi tractor-trailer in Mexia before he passed away from the cold on Feb. 21 in Mexia.
Contributed photos
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This photo is believed to be that of Robert “Bob” Wack, possibly during his high school years, in New Jersey. Wack died from the severe cold in the cab of a tractor-trailer in Mexia on Feb. 21 at age 81.
