Masur retires after 30 years at Texas Parks

By Anthony Collins

LPR Editor                        

   For Wes Masur, Lockhart State Park was never just a place to visit. It was home. Masur, who recently retired after 30 years with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, spent much of his childhood living inside the park, exploring its trails, swimming in the pool, playing golf, fishing, riding horses, and roaming across land that had already been tied to his family for generations. That connection reaches back to his great-grandfather, Henry Masur, who owned the land that is now Lockhart State Park. His grandfather was E.B. “Hoot” Masur, and his father, Mike Masur, later served as park superintendent and a State Park Police Officer for more than 30 years. “Our family has always talked about how long the land has been in our family history, and later about how we will always be connected to it through the donation of the land for public use for generations to come,” Masur said. That connection continued through service, with his father, Wes, and his sister all working within the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.

   Growing up at Lockhart State Park gave Masur the kind of childhood few people get to experience. “It was awesome,” he said. “Every day, there were things to do. Golf, fish, swim, ride horses, and explore areas of the park.” His friends wanted to come to the park, too, giving Masur the chance to share those experiences with them and his family. One place that remains particularly vivid in his memory is the recreation hall at the top of the hill. It was there that the patio offered a sweeping view across the surrounding pastures, farmland, and Lockhart. “It felt and appeared as if you were on top of the world with the view from the patio,” Masur said. The park became even more firmly tied to his childhood when his father served as superintendent, and the family lived in the park residence. Masur lived there from the time he was 5 years old through high school graduation and continued coming home on weekends and during winter and summer breaks while attending college. “For me, that was home,” he said. “It will always be my childhood ‘home,’ where I spent most of my time outside enjoying all of the park.”

   Those childhood years did more than give Masur memories. They helped determine the direction his life would take. Growing up around his father exposed him to law enforcement at an early age, including Texas Department of Public Safety troopers, game wardens, sheriff’s deputies, and local police officers who worked alongside or knew his father. Masur admired them and began seeing law enforcement as a possible future for himself. “Yes, growing up in a state park did play a huge role in my career path,” he said. Those influences eventually led him into a 30-year career with Texas Parks and Wildlife, including more than 20 years as chief of the Texas State Park Police. During his time as chief, Masur led a statewide force of approximately 150 officers serving 90 Texas State Parks and roughly 10 million annual park visitors. His decades of service were also recognized with a Lifetime Achievement Award honoring his leadership, dedication, and contributions to the Texas State Park Police.

   Despite a career that carried him across Texas, Masur said its foundation can be traced directly back to Lockhart. “When I look back over my career, I am amazed at how my career path was influenced by my childhood years spent in Lockhart State Park, where I played and roamed over every acre of that state park and made and developed many relationships that also helped forge my path in conservation law enforcement,” Masur said. “It also solidifies that my career was meant to be, based on family, history, and law enforcement service.”     

    Lockhart State Park itself remains a significant part of local history. The 263-acre park sits along Farm-to-Market Road 20 southwest of Lockhart, on land once owned by Masur’s great-grandfather, Henry Masur. For Wes, that history is not something found only in old records or family stories. It is something he grew up walking across every day.

   Even now, arriving at Lockhart State Park can take Masur back decades. “The first thing I see, which takes me back to my childhood, is my childhood ‘home,’” he said. From there come memories of outdoor fun and spending long days outdoors with friends and family. He also remembers roping steers at the park’s old rodeo arena, which is no longer there. Other parts of the park remain remarkably familiar. “I remember the historical and natural settings at the park, many of which look the same as when I was a child,” Masur said. Those familiar places are reminders of why preserving parks mattered enough for him to devote three decades of his life to the job.

   Retirement may close Masur’s 30-year career with Texas Parks and Wildlife, but it does not close his connection to the place where that career really began. His hope now is that another generation of Lockhart children will have the opportunity to build their own memories there. “I hope that Lockhart State Park will continue to be preserved for future generations to experience and enjoy, like I was fortunate to experience throughout my childhood,” Masur said. 

    For Masur, the story has come full circle. Long before he wore a badge, led officers across Texas, or received a Lifetime Achievement Award, he was a boy growing up inside Lockhart State Park with a creek to fish, a pool to swim in, a golf course to play, and hundreds of acres to explore. After 30 years of helping protect Texas parks for other families, he can still return to Lockhart, see his childhood home, and remember exactly where it all started.