school. He drank and later
drugged and at school learned,
in his words, “nothing.”
Continuing to Brookhaven
Junior College, his drinking
increased and his grades were
straight Fs. The one significant
exception to this downward
spiral was a biology field trip in
1981 to Big Bend. The group
camped out, and Clarence
found that the beauty and
immensity of the night sky had
a calming effect on him. He
was at peace with himself. The
trip was a turning point,
although his lifestyle had yet to
improve. His paper on the trip
earned him an “A.”
In 1982 he joined the Army
and thrived. Over 17 years, he
served in Bosnia, Germany
and the first Gulf War, ending
as sergeant first class. He married
Alissa Torres Jones just
before the Gulf War, and they
had a baby girl. The marriage
ended five years later in
divorce, and his Army career
ended in a general discharge
1999. Today he sees this as a
blessing in disguise.
He got a job at Subway and
enrolled at Dallas’ El Centro
College, from which he graduated
with a B.A. in general
studies in 2006. He also joined
Narcotics Anonymous. In
2006, remembering the uplifting
Big Bend experience in
1981, he boarded a Grey hound
bus and arrived in Alpine to
enroll at Sul Ross State
University.
He describes this period as
when he grew up. He joined
the Family Crisis Center of the
Big Bend as a volunteer counselor.
The work of this vital
agency, which deals with
domestic violence and sexual
assault, was a natural fit for
someone who had always
wanted to help others. He
thrives in the job. He also
allows that he sometimes acts
as a troublemaker and is perhaps
too loud. The director,
Lovika de Koninck, describes
him as someone who will
always go the extra mile for
clients, in an agency whose
workload has almost doubled
in recent years to 1,100 cases
annually.
Russeau is now employed at
the Crisis Center as community
educator. He also works with
the Boy Scouts, ran for mayor
and lost and was president of
the board of the Alpine
Community Center. He is currently
on the board of the
chamber of commerce.
Nourished by the skies of
Big Bend and small-town values
of Alpine, Clarence Russeau
has learned how to contribute
to society.
STERRY BUTCHER
Sterry Butcher was born in
San Marcos, Texas on Sept. 10,
1967, the second child of Allan
and Sue Butcher. When she
was 3, the family moved to Fort
Worth. Her father taught political
science at Texas State
University (now the University
of Texas at Arlington) as well as
practicing as a criminal defense
attorney.
Childhood years in green,
leafy Fort Worth are a pleasant
memory today. From kindergarten
through 12th grade she
was enrolled at private Forth
Worth Country Day School,
taking riding lessons at age 5.
At home she read voraciously.
Her parents allowed her to
choose her college, and she
chose small, liberal arts Reed
College in Portland, Ore. From
1985 to 1990 she followed the
Reed College tutorial-type system,
graduated with a B.A. in
English (“was good at it”) and
made some long-lasting
friends. This challenging, independent
place was right for her.
She missed, however, the
wildness and roughness of
Texas. So in 1991 she went to
Austin and took a job at the
Dispute Resolution Center. She
felt useful and stayed two years.
But she still felt adrift. She
sensed there was something
else “out there” for her. The
family went every Thanks -
giving to Indian Lodge at Davis
Mountains State Park. On one
visit in 1992, the family visited
the Chinati Foundation and
were guided by a young man,
Michael Roch.
Sterry was attracted to barebones
Marfa and to the tour
guide. She took a room above
the thrift store. She got a job
with Marfa’s newspaper, the
Big Bend Sentinel, staff of four.
She also got engaged to
Michael in 1993. The couple
wanted a break and moved to
Seattle. They married there in
1994, found jobs and stayed
until 1996 before moving back
to Texas for graduate study –
Michael studying studio art at
Texas Christian University,
Sterry English at the University
of North Texas.
In 1996 they bought a shell
of a house on West Texas
Street in Marfa and rebuilt it.
Sterry returned to the Big Bend
Sentinel and over 14 years has
become the paper’s senior
reporter. In 2001 they adopted
a Guatemalan boy whom they
named Huck, today a curly
haired 10-year-old who loves
books and the outdoors. Mike
sculpts and paints and teaches
at Marfa Elementary School.
In 2004, Sterry was awarded
a Knight Fellowship at
Stanford. This one-year course
attracts internationally known
journalists including Pulitzer
Prize winners. Unusually, in
Sterry’s case, the award went to
a writer at a small-town newspaper,
circulation 2,600. In
2007, Texas Monthly did a feature
on her.
Sterry Butcher contributes
up to 3,000 words and eight
articles weekly to the Big Bend
Sentinel. While sometimes, as
with her story on contentious
local water issues, the material
is groundbreaking, more often
the topics are routine and local.
Whatever the subject, her rule
is: Getting facts wrong is not an
option. This professionalism
shows and is a big reason why
the Big Bend Sentinel regularly
wins Texas Press Association
awards, including, in 2010, a
first prize in feature writing.
Radio for a Wide Range
Serving Far West Texas at 93.5 FM
Become a member at www.marfapublicradio.org or 1-800-903-KRTS
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