By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
JUNO, Texas – Active and retired Texas Rangers and about a dozen descendants of Charles Dissler gathered at his gravesite here Saturday to place a Texas Ranger cross and to honor his service with the legendary law enforcers.
Clay Dissler, who helped organize the ceremony, welcomed those who attended, including a number of retired and currently-serving Texas Rangers, Val Verde County Sheriff Joe Frank Martinez and his wife Heather Martinez, and members of the Dissler family, one of whom traveled from his home in southeastern Missouri.
Dissler also thanked the owners of the ranch where Charles Dissler’s grave is located, Merily Hodge Keller and her husband Tom W. Keller.
The Kellers gave special permission for the gravesite ceremony. The land where Dissler’s grave and other graves of early Juno residents are located is private and can only be accessed with the Kellers’ permission.
Clay Dissler’s brother Randel Dissler gave the invocation at the start of the ceremony, after those present recited the pledge of allegiance to the U.S. flag and to the Texas flag, both of which, along with the Texas Ranger flag, were placed near Charles Dissler’s grave and snapped in the brisk north wind.
Clay Dissler then read a short biography of Charles Dissler, noting Charles Dissler was born in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein in 1848.
“When he came to America, he settled at Kendalia, Texas. He married Sarah Elizabeth Edge at Kendalia on Aug. 20, 1879. They had five children: Henry William, John, Catherine, Charles Franklin and Benjamin Harrison,” Clay Dissler read.
He pointed out that James Dissler, who attended the ceremony, is the last surviving grandchild of Charles Dissler.
Clay Dissler said his ancestor served as a Texas Ranger in Company F under Texas Ranger Capt. Patrick Dolan from Oct. 1, 1877 to Feb. 28, 1878. In those times, Dissler added, central Val Verde County was still very much a frontier, subject to raids by Native American tribes who roamed the area.
After serving with the Texas Rangers in Val Verde County, Charles Dissler returned to Kendalia, but he apparently liked the Juno area so much, he returned here with his family here in 1895.
“He homesteaded and ranched here and spent the rest of his life in Val Verde County and was buried here after he died in 1909. He and his family drove the first herd of Angora goats here from Kendall County, so the Dissler family actually started the mohair industry in this county,” Clay Dissler read.
Retired Texas Ranger Roger Dixon then spoke about the Former Texas Ranger Association.
“They exist to preserve the true history of the Texas Rangers, to mark the graves of past Rangers, to administer scholarship programs, to maintain and operate a museum dedicated to the Texas Rangers and to bring former Rangers, active Rangers and Rangers’ families together for support and mutual purpose,” Dixon said.
Dixon then led the group in reciting the Ranger prayer, which begins, “O God, whose end is justice/Whose strength is all our stay, /Be near and bless my mission/As I go forth today.”
After the prayer, James Dissler unveiled the Ranger cross that had been placed beside Dissler’s grave.
After the ceremony, those attending were invited to a reception inside the old Juno school.
“We all look up to the old Rangers who patrolled these remote, dangerous areas by themselves, and the people of Texas want us to do the job, and this was how it all started. I’m very proud to be here and to be part of this ceremony,” Dixon said after the ceremony.
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