Steven Reid Whitfield, II

Committed to a life of helping others, Fire Fighter Cadet Steven Reid Whitfield, II served as a teacher, basketball coach, and in the Texas Army National Guard before realizing his dream to join the Houston Fire Department Academy. He was scheduled to graduate from HFD Academy Class 2015-G on June 16, 2016.

Born on March 17, 1984 in Beaumont, Texas, FF Cadet Whitfield moved to Bastrop, Texas as a child with his family. In 2002, he graduated from Bastrop High School. He was a member of the varsity basketball team. He then attended Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, where he played basketball, before transferring to and graduating from Lamar University with a Bachelor of Science in Exercise Science and Fitness Management in 2007.

As a teacher and coach, FF Cadet Whitfield served at Bastrop High School, Fayetteville High School, and Magnolia High School. He joined the Texas National Guard in 2014, attended infantry and airborne schools, and planned to attend Army Ranger School with aspirations of becoming a Green Beret. Family, friends and professional colleagues of FF Cadet Whitfield cherished his sense of humor, his abilities as a motivator, his adventurous nature, and his drive to serve others in schools, the military and the fire service. Committed to physical fitness, he also was a CrossFit trainer.

FF Cadet Whitfield is survived by his father, Steven Reid Whitfield, Sr. and stepmother, Mary Suzanne Whitfield, of Beaumont, Texas; his mother, Wanda Courts, of Humble, Texas; sister, Lauren Tucker, of Bastrop, Texas; sister, Melissa McCollum and her husband, Doug McCollum, of Katy, Texas; sister, Nichole Wooley, of Beaumont, Texas; sister, Anna Whitfield, of Beaumont, Texas; grandmother, Maudell Whitfield, of Beaumont, Texas; grandmother, Mary Verret, of Beaumont, Texas; as well as aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, and nephews. He was preceded in death by grandfather, William Reid Whitfield, of Beaumont, Texas, and grandfather, Wiltz Paul Verret, of Beaumont, Texas. He also leaves behind lifelong friends, including Alex Craft, and the “Fab Five” of Bastrop, Clellan Hyatt, Titus Overman, Travis Roberts, and Shawn Juarez.

The Whitfield family extends its sincere gratitude to Steven’s academy classmates – Ramiz Razzouq, Zaire Wilborn, Jerry Thompson, Michael Smith, Olie Hill, and Clayton Terry – who are serving as pallbearers at the memorial in Houston, as well as his two cousins Travis Whitfield and Trenton Whitfield; and his close friends, Clellan Hyatt, Shawn Juarez, Travis Roberts, and Alex Craft who will be serving as pallbearers at the funeral in Beaumont. The family is forever grateful to his friends in the community, the Houston Fire Department, the Houston Professional Fire Fighters Association, and citizens and friends of firefighters who have offered condolences and provided support.