Hill Country wedding venue wiped out by deadly Texas flood in July

Dan Schoen, owner of the Paradise River Bend wedding venue, which was destroyed in the July 4 flood near the Guadalupe River in Ingram, holds a rope tethered to a support post from the remains of the pavilion. Sidney Orman/Texas State University

INGRAM — Where couples once exchanged vows beneath towering cypress trees along the Guadalupe River, only a bare concrete slab remains. What had been Dan Schoen’s outdoor wedding venue and family retreat — a peaceful riverside escape just yards from the water — was erased in minutes by a flood so powerful it bent 40-foot trees and scoured nearly a mile-wide path of destruction.

Schoen, owner of the Paradise River Bend wedding venue and vacation rental property, often visits what was once a pristine retreat across the road from his cabins, surrounded by trees and nestled along the usually tranquil Guadalupe River.

But all that is left now is the concrete slab that once served as the floor of his popular wedding venue, and the once-regal nearby 40-foot cypress trees are now bent over after raging floodwaters destroyed everything in their path.

“The roof's gone, the beam's broken in half, gigantic boulders — they're all sitting over there now — they used to be up there,” Schoen said, pointing to the top of his wedding pavilion.

A record flood tore through Kerr County and impacted surrounding cities, including Kerrville, Hunt and Ingram, killing more than 130 people across the Hill Country.

Schoen bought the Ingram property in 2002, and it quickly became a favorite location for weddings and vacation rentals on Airbnb and VRBO.

His cabins were full during the July 4 weekend, as guests, including his family, were in town to enjoy popular Independence Day festivities.

He looked out his window about 4 a.m. to find the water had risen past the wedding pavilion, which is elevated about 30 feet above the Guadalupe River, on his riverside property. The pavilion sits across the street from the guest cabins and Schoen’s personal residence.

“At 4 in the morning, ‘I'm thinking, OK, it's going to be OK,’ ” Schoen said. “This is a lot of rain, but it's handling it. We're going to be all right.”

Schoen’s land had been through floods before, and water reaching past the pavilion was nothing new to him.

Schoen quickly resigned himself to losing kayaks and other river equipment and mentally prepared for a debris cleanup first thing in the morning.

However, not even 15 minutes later, Schoen was awakened by his 93-year-old mother, who alerted him to the rapidly rising water outside.

“Dan, there's water outside,” Schoen quoted her as saying. “I said, ‘What?’ She says, ‘People's in water.’ ”

The Paradise River Bend property features a steady increase in elevation. It starts at the river with the wedding venue, then extends across the road and up to the rental cabins and Schoen’s personal cabin about a mile away.

Every cabin was built above the 500-year flood plain, but on July 4, the water didn’t stop rising until it reached just below Schoen’s front porch.

“And so you have to understand, within 15 minutes, the water had risen 20 feet,” Schoen said.

Friends and family said Schoen jumped into action immediately, spending the following weeks searching for missing people and helping anywhere he possibly could.

“He made sure first and foremost everybody was taken care of,” said Grace Hyatt, Schoen's daughter. “He checked his Airbnbs and everybody was safe.”

There was a woman in a camper on his property who had difficulty walking.

Schoen described watching her being pulled by the water like a wet towel as he held on tightly.

He was able to get her out of the water and safely transfer her to his cabin.

“I am probably more stable than maybe some who did it,” Schoen said, referencing his unique background. “I've certainly seen death and all that type of stuff.”

When Schoen was 4 years old, his missionary parents took their family to the South American country of Suriname, where they spent the next 15 years of their lives living with Indigenous people in the jungle region.

The family learned the local language and created a written version of it, and Schoen’s father, Ivan, translated the Bible so the Surinamese people could have it in their own tongue.

“That aspect of him (Schoen) that could continue to trust and have faith when things get difficult, knowing those experiences where God delivered their family over and over, kept him safe all those years and provided for them,” said Hart Simpson, a longtime friend and business partner of Schoen. “I think that's kind of a bedrock for him.”

The constant rapids were a reminder of Schoen’s Suriname home. He has returned many times, often bringing friends with him.

“Living on the Guadalupe was him getting a little piece of home,” said Greg Powell, a longtime close friend of Schoen. “Many times when I go out there, we sit in the hammocks, you know, in the pavilion by the river and we talk, light a bonfire, and we listen to the river and sometimes we kayak on it.”

Schoen’s children — and now their children — have been able to enjoy the river since his purchase of the land.

The property has known picnics, parties, long conversations and baptisms.

“Seeing it the way that it is (— destroyed — ) was really hard, especially since my dad just takes care of everybody else,” Hyatt said. “So, it was really hard to see that for him.”

Schoen's son, Christian Shoen, had planned to be married on the land, and those plans have not changed.

“Even though it's wrecked, it's still sentimental,” Christian Schoen said.

The spot has long been a respite from the daily grind, and Schoen finds peace there, but Paradise River Bend has suffered greatly in the wake of the flood.

Despite nearly losing his business, Schoen’s main goal that day — and ever since — has been helping and consoling other victims, his daughter said.

“Ever since the flood, he doesn't talk about his own losses when it comes to finances or property,” Hyatt said.

“He talks about the victims because there were quite a few victims near and on the property. So, he's just very selfless about it. He knows that life is imperfect and that things are going to happen. And we don't always know why.”