Mesquite police Ofc. Richard Houston was remembered Tuesday for his warm personality and constant smile at a martial arts gym where he and his young son trained.
Mesquite police Ofc. Richard Houston was remembered Tuesday for his warm personality and constant smile at a martial arts gym where he and his young son trained.
Houston started to bring his 12-year-old son to Wolfpack MMA in Forney and ended up signing up for lessons himself.
"He just really took to it. He loved it,” instructor and co-owner Jerry Gonzalez said. “We moved his son up to the adult class so they could train together."
Gonzalez hit it off with Houston and the two became good friends.
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Gonzalez is a former police officer himself, once led the honor guard, and knows all too well the dangers of police work.
"Unfortunately I've been to a lot of cop funerals,” Gonalez said. “It never gets easy but it's always harder when it's a close personal friend."
Mesquite Police
The two texted each other about getting together -- less than an hour before Houston was shot and killed in that grocery store parking lot in Mesquite.
"I have my (emotional) moments like right now,” Gonzalez said. “But I know he's in a better place. I know he'd want all of us to continue doing what we're doing."
Gonzalez said Houston enjoyed old Western movies and was an avid reader.
"He always had a smile on his face,” Gonzalez said. “He was that guy who offered to help everybody. He always had a kind word.
"He'll be missed. Not by just us here but everybody he touched in his life."
