More than a decade after Richard Durrett died, his family has remade a life
Eleven years have passed since Kelly Durrett’s husband died, but there are flashes when those 11 years hit more like 11 seconds.
Eleven years since Kelly’s husband, Richard, died at the age of 38. He left his wife and the couple’s two children, Owen and Alice. At the time of his death, Kelly was pregnant with their daughter, Margot.
“As the kids get older I am more and more aware that he’s not here,” Kelly Durrett said this week. “You look at pictures of the kids when he was with them, and you do look at the past with nostalgia, but I know it was not all roses and giggles like it is in the videos. There are parts that would have frustrated him for sure, because there are parts to them that are so much like him it would have frustrated him.
“I know that. But more than anything the part that makes me sad is that he would have been so proud of them.”
Durrett was a TCU alum who became a regular in the DFW media scene having covered everything from high schools to the pros. He worked at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram before moving on to the Dallas Morning News and eventually to the now defunct ESPN Dallas, where he covered the Rangers, had a sports talk show and contributed as a fill-in for Rangers radio play-by-play duties.
He died in June 2014 from a cardiac event.
Eleven years does “help” heal, but there is that sadness to Richard’s absence that is a permanent part of his family and friends’ lives. Dad is gone. Richard the husband is gone. Richard the brother is gone. Richard the son is gone. Richard the friend is gone. And it never doesn’t stink.
This is not some glossy revisionist history of a person’s life; the man had a beautiful soul who didn’t have it in him to bad-mouth a cockroach.
Do It For Durrett Foundation thrives
One detail to this tragedy that Kelly never expected would last is a foundation that started in Richard’s name not only endures, but has expanded. For those who lose loved ones, they all want the names to remain in circulation. They don’t want people to forget them.
Thanks to the The Do It For Durrett Foundation, Richard’s name and his legacy keep going.
This foundation is in its 11th year, raising money for families who have been hit by tragedy. On Friday night at Texas Live! in Arlington, a concert featuring Rhett Miller, Josh Weathers and George Dunham & the Bird Dogs will benefit the foundation. Dunham is one of the longtime voices of Sports Radio 1310 The Ticket who dabbles in live music.
Now with a concert, golf tournament and live auction, what began as a nice gesture has morphed into a constant on the calendar, and has helped dozens of families who need the help.
It happens because of people like local entrepreneur Greg Denman, former Texas Rangers general manager Jon Daniels, Texas Rangers reporter Emily Jones, former Rangers reporter Anthony Andro, current Rangers reporter Jeff Wilson and Dallas Stars employee Ashley Ernisse, along with hundreds of other people.
They all knew Richard and wanted to do something after he died.
Often these sorts of well-meaning endeavors never actually start, or the ones that do end shortly after beginning.
“Even after we did the first one, I had no real thought that we’d keep doing this,” Kelly said. “What so many people did for us after Richard died was amazing. The help we had.
“A year, or even months, after he died, the idea of helping other families felt so powerful because it was something Richard would have done. He was so generous with his time and finances. And it’s good because the kids hear people talk about Richard, and a life well-lived can impact others.”
This foundation is part of Kelly’s life now.
She teaches fifth-grade math in Wylie. For space reasons, she moved the family into a different home, and to be closer to the school where she teaches.
Their son, Owen, is 17 and a junior in high school, Alice will soon turn 14, and Margot is 10.
One detail a lot of people didn’t know about Richard was that as much as he loved sports, he was musically inclined; he was a member of the TCU band. The man was an avid baseball fan, but of equal importance was the latest episode of ... “Downton Abbey.”
The three children all acquired his taste for the arts.
Being ‘grateful for every day’
The kids are doing well, as is their mom. This is not the way she envisioned her life, but all of them have made the best out of a tragic situation.
“I’d say it took a couple of years where it started to become normal,” she said. “What does it look like now? On the one hand, it’s made me a little more aware to be grateful for every day that I have, and time I have with the kids.
“It’s a never-ending to-do list, and the car pools, and it does help me reframe the acceptance that life can be both beautiful and awful in one breath. You have this balance of life; that sadness that comes with it, and the knowledge of what this time, and this life, is.”
Eleven years have passed since she lost her friend, her husband and the father to their children. A lot of wonderful moments in her life have happened in those 11 years.
There are those moments when 11 years can still feel like 11 seconds.
This story was originally published September 11, 2025 at 4:50 AM.
