PROFILE: After being rescued as a child, man becomes rescuer

ANGLETON

Andy Ray Bouse used to need rescuing. Now he is the rescuer.

“God has placed a lot of miracles in my life,” Bouse said.

His family moved to Angleton when he was just 2 years old, and four years later, medical issues interrupted his childhood.

“I had epileptic seizures from the time I was 6 until 23. On Dec. 7, 1979, I had brain surgery in Montreal, and they removed my right temporal lobe. I’ve been seizure-free since 1979 until now.”

Bouse’s sister, Charlene Clark, attributed her brother’s successful surgery to faith.

“He overcame the surgery thanks to God,” Clark said. “Him recovering from that was a blessing for the whole family.”

While on the operating table in Canada, more than the doctors’ hands were at work on seeing that he made it through, he would find out later, he said.

“I didn’t know it until I got back, but United Methodist Church held a daylong prayer vigil when I had my brain surgery,” he said. “The mailman would come into the hospital and joke, ‘I brought two bags of mail, one for the rest of the hospital and one for you.’”

Another life-changing event started at the same age as his seizures, Bouse said.

“When I was 6, I fell in the Intracoastal canal and Ronny Woods and James Michael Hart pulled me out and started CPR,” Bouse said. “Ronny was a Scout and was awarded an Eagle badge for life-saving and I think he set the record of being the youngest at the time to win that honor.”

That act is one Bouse has reciprocated throughout his life, working to help others improve their lives.

Clark, who lives in Fort Worth, thinks the world of her brother, and circumstances presented themselves for her to share how incredible her brother is with others, she said. It happened during a visit with Bouse and their mother at Bouse’s home in Angleton.

“He and his wife had stuff to do and I was visiting and taking care of my mother,” Clark said. “He had the paper lying out and I was looking for something to do, so I did the Sudoku and then I saw the nomination form for Citizen of the Year.”

Thinking it was the perfect opportunity to share her brother’s good deeds with the community, she jotted down her thoughts and compiled a list of all of Bouse’s many accomplishments and community involvement, then emailed it to The Facts.

“He is the most giving, genuine person that I know of and has been since he was a kid,” Clark said. “He will do for others before he even thinks to do for himself, sometimes to his detriment. We tell him, ‘Andy, you need to take care of yourself,’ and he says, ‘No, no, no. They need help.’”

One time he stepped in to help, it led to his marriage.

Bouse met his wife, Sara, in high school. While they knew of each other, it was when a bull escaped on campus that they actually connected. Having been around cattle since he was a child, Bouse helped corral the animal.

“Sarah let us put it in her pasture until we could go back and get him,” Bouse said. “I would say our first date was going to see the Aggies on New Year’s Eve, and we came back home and burned the Christmas tree. Burning the tree on New Year’s is a family tradition.”

Animal rescue skills have proven valuable during two major storms to hit Brazoria County, Hurricane Ike in 2008 and Hurricane Harvey last August.

“The house is the highest point on the street, and during the Harvey and Ike floods, everyone brought their animals to Andy and Sarah’s house,” Clark said.

Bouse also is a big proponent of protecting the environment and wetlands. He even has a company dedicated to this venture named after his alma mater.

“My partner’s name is Mike and my name is Andy and together we’re A&M Wetland Consulting Services LLC,” Bouse said.

The partners will inspect property before someone buys it and tell them whether the land is suitable for building. They not only will communicate their findings to the potential owner, but to the Army Corps of Engineers.

His business is part of a good life he has built, one centered around family and faith.

“I married Sara 34 years ago,” he said. “We have three children: John Charles, 33, who has a boy and a girl, Sidney Stuart, 30, who has a baby daughter and Jennifer Rae, 27, who also has a baby daughter.”

He is proud of his family and offers advice to others who take on the responsibility of raising children.

“Parents need to love and respect and treasure their children when they’re young so they grow up to be loving, trusting adults,” he said. “If a child doesn’t feel loved and secure as a toddler, then they don’t grow up trusting.”

Bouse is very active in his church, Angleton United Methodist, teaching Sunday school and serving on its advisory council. He also is involved with Grandparents as Parents, a program hosted by the church for people who have parental custody of their grandchildren.

“We host, educate and entertain the children while their grandparents meet,” Bouse said. “I saw firsthand what a difference it makes in a child’s life. The children are emotional and mad when they come in and we just show them a little love and teach them their grandparents love them, too. If they follow God’s law and respect their elders, life just works a lot better. We encourage and love on them a little bit and it makes an enormous difference.”