August 31, 2026

By Mary Beth Gahan

It has been more than 10 years since Jeff Ramsey and Todd Weaver worked together to lay out on paper the design for Hawk’s Hill, a planned development next to where QuikTrip now sits. But Weaver still remembers an afternoon phone call from Ramsey.

“Todd, what do you think about that road that goes north and south, why don't we name it after that fallen hero named Jacob Lugo?” Ramsey asked.

The collector street to the west of Long Prairie Road was put on the master thoroughfare plan in 2015 and would connect Waketon Road and College Parkway. It cut right through the middle of the property they were working on.

It was a phenomenal idea, Weaver said.

Ramsey held a dedication for the street, along with another one named for Highland Village’s Aaron Hudson, in July 2016. In addition to the Gold Star families, there were some veterans in attendance, but many were civilians and residents of the town.

“It was very, very special,” Weaver said.

Today, a street sign with Lugo’s name on it stands next to a barricade and grassy field. Ramsey passed away last summer and the property is under contract with a developer who wants to amend the master plan to keep the lot in one piece and remove the street that would run through it.

Still, it’s not the end of the road for Jacob Lugo Drive.

When Lugo was growing up, FM 2499 didn’t extend north past FM 1171. He lived in a house on Morriss Court and played with his younger brother in areas surrounded by horse pastures.

The town grew rapidly as he entered his freshman year. Flower Mound’s population went from 15,000 to 50,000 in the decade between 1990 to 2000 and a new high school opened across town in 1999.

Lugo was part of the only halftime show in town when he joined the Marcus marching and symphonic bands. Flower Mound didn’t have varsity sports until two years later.

He was also a member of the Spanish Honor Society until his graduation in the spring of 2001.

Lugo always thought he’d follow in his dad’s footsteps to become a Marine. He stepped up to make that belief a reality when the world watched the Twin Towers fall that September.

On October 9, 2001, two days after the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan, Lugo enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps.

It wasn’t long before the U.S. was involved in two conflicts.

After serving one tour in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, he married Lori Shelton — who he’d met in band — while on leave around Christmas. They received their marriage certificate from Denton County in the last days of December 2003. They kept it a secret. Like many military couples do, they planned to have a bigger celebration when he was home for good.

Lance Corporal Lugo was a machine gunner assigned to 3rd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, Twentynine Palms, California. He went back to Iraq for a second tour.

He was quiet and didn’t talk much about what happened in the Middle East because he saw a lot of combat, his brother Aaron said.

On Aug. 24, 2004, Lugo’s dad, Raul, watched home videos of 4-year-old Lugo playing with his siblings. 7,000 miles away in Iraq’s Anbar province, his son was on combat patrol when he was hit by enemy fire. He died that day. He was 21 years old.

For Ramsey, honoring Lugo with a street name in Hawk’s Hill wasn’t a public relations move.

His dad served as a Navy pilot in World War II. In turn, Ramsey was fiercely patriotic and had a passion for helping veterans.

“I think part of him felt like his way to serve was to serve those when they came home,” said David Vobora, founder of Adaptive Training Foundation, a non-profit gym that helps those who have lost limbs in traumatic ways, like combat.

Ramsey could often be found working out at the gym and helped get several veterans into the ten-week course that combines conditioning with community. One of those was Dan Licardo, a former Navy SEAL who was injured in a car crash on FM 1171 after he had a seizure.

Ramsey was also involved with Carry the Load and 22Kill, now part of One Tribe Foundation, a nonprofit that works to prevent suicide among service members and veterans.

“Jeff and I had numerous conversations about how we could, as civilians, be the light and support for veterans,” Vobora said.

Vobora and Ramsey were close. Vobora officiated Ramsey’s wedding to Tanya a few years ago. They also stored their campers next to each other near Lake Lewisville.

At 4 p.m. on July 3, 2025, Ramsey sent a video to Vobora from the HTR TX Hill Country RV Park and Campground on the west fork of the Guadalupe River. Ramsey wanted Vobora and his family to come join them. They opted to stay home and rest.

Early in the morning on the Fourth of July, Ramsey and his wife Tanya were swept away when floodwaters inundated Kerrville. Tanya’s body was found, but Jeff Ramsey remains one of two people who are still unaccounted for.

Multiple national media outlets have detailed how the couple died, but for many in Flower Mound, Ramsey is remembered for how he lived.

“Jeff would’ve siphoned gas from his car to give to someone else just so they could make it home,” Vobora said. “That’s the kind of guy he was.”

In a recent planning and zoning work session that went on for hours, the public got its first look at Flower Mound Center, a 28-acre development that could bring an H-E-B next to QuikTrip. There was mostly talk about the amount of traffic and sales tax revenue that the popular grocer would bring.

Lugo’s name was mentioned a few times, but only in references to the master plan amendment to remove the street from the thoroughfare plan.

It was 22 years to the day since Lugo was killed.

After the meeting, Bryan Webb, who was on town council when Hawk’s Hill was up for consideration, talked with the development team from Regency Centers to make them aware of how the street got its name.

They already knew.

“We are very much aware of Lance Corporal Jacob Lugo and his sacrifice during Operation Iraqi Freedom, and we understand the significance of the town’s decision to honor him with the naming of Jacob Lugo Drive,” Abe Pacetti, senior vice president of investments, told North Texas Sun.

Regency Centers plans to keep the name for a driveway that will go through the development and connect College Parkway to Waketon Road. There will be street-style signage to go along with it.

“We believe this allows us to preserve the recognition and intent behind the original naming while creating a safer and more cohesive internal circulation system for the shopping center,” Pacetti said.

Regency Centers is also considering way to honor Ramsey by placing a plaque or engraved bench near the retention pond and open space. The details have not been finalized.