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A Texas family is mourning the sudden loss of a husband and father who, according to state officials, accidentally shot and killed himself during a weekend hunting trip.
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) game wardens responded just after midnight Saturday to a hunting accident in Northeast Texas that claimed the life of Jose Ramirez, 45, of Grapevine, the agency said.
Ramirez, a father of three, was identified in a GoFundMe campaign created by one of his daughters.
“My father, Jose Ramirez, passed away unexpectedly, and our family is heartbroken. My dad meant the world to me,” the GoFundMe reads.
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Ramirez was removing his firearm from a vehicle when it discharged, local outlet KLTV reported, citing TPWD. Life-saving measures were unsuccessful.
His daughter described him as “the pillar of our home, the provider for our family, and the one who always made sure we were taken care of.” She added that the “light of his life” was his infant granddaughter.
“He taught me the most important lessons in life — to never give up, to work hard for what you want, and to always do what makes you happy, no matter how small it may seem,” she wrote of her father. “He believed that true success comes from loving what you do and living with a happy heart.”
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Ramirez grew up in Grapevine and was active in the community, working at many restaurants in the Dallas suburb over the years, according to the Facebook page “Grapevine Edit.”
“Most recently, he worked at Son of a Butcher, Silver Lake Marina’s Rockin’ S Express Bar & Grill, and spent over a decade at Kirby’s Steakhouse,” the page wrote in a post honoring Ramirez’s life. “His family wants the community to know of his passing because they know how many coworkers, customers, and locals cared about him and would want to know.”
The TPWD said game wardens are trained to investigate hunting-related incidents, but “always wish a tragedy like this could have been avoided.”
The agency encouraged all hunters to “take safety seriously” and added a few reminders for handling firearms in a Facebook post.
“Always handle all firearms as if they are loaded, keep muzzles pointed in a safe direction and take time to unload your firearm before placing or removing it from a vehicle,” the agency wrote before extending condolences to Ramirez’s loved ones.
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Texas’ general rifle season for white-tail deer began on Nov. 1 and ends on different dates in January depending on the location.
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