Permanent hope and happiness
In the early morning hours of July 4, 2025, Tony Tharp woke up and got out of bed. As soon as his feet touched the floor, they were swallowed by a rushing river of water rising rapidly. The Tharps’ lives changed in the blink of an eye.
Tony moved quickly, woke his wife, Patricia, grabbed a few things and got out while simultaneously calling for help. When emergency responders arrived with pump trucks, they told the Tharps there was nothing they could do to counter the water’s scope and intensity. They would have to wait until the storm was over.
The Tharps, like many families affected by devastating floods in San Angelo, Texas, checked into a hotel and tried to absorb what had happened. Disaster and devastation were followed by grief and loss when they learned the extent of the damage, including the loss of one of their dogs.
The next 24 to 48 hours brought out the best in people. First responders, their church community and many others began the cleanup process as soon as possible. Ordinary people created order out of nature’s havoc, but much more work remained.
A temporary plan
Restoring their home was the Tharps’ initial plan. Tony and his youngest son, Steve, ran a construction business Tony started in 2003. In the meantime, after 17 days in a hotel, the Tharps needed a longer-term place to live. Tony turned to Aaron Hargett, senior executive director of Baptist Retirement Community, who was also a friend at church.
“Tony told me their house had flooded, and they had nowhere to go besides a hotel,” Hargett said. “He asked if we had a place they could rent until their home was restored, and we did. Some of our associates already knew the Tharps because they’ve been regulars at Main Street Cafe for several years.”
The cafe at the senior living community is open to the public as well as residents. Residents enjoy meals alongside neighbors from around the city, like the Tharps.
The Tharps thought an apartment in the senior living community would help them feel more at home even for a short while during repairs on their house.
But after only a few days, the ease of their temporary lifestyle – and the warm reception they received – prompted the Tharps to reimagine a future with a different idea of home.
Learning from the past
It wouldn’t be the first time Tony and Patricia Tharp faced an abrupt change in how and where they would live. A more dramatic turn came in 1973, when Tony was 29 and recovering from a car wreck that nearly killed him. He spent much of the first 13 years of their marriage drinking heavily, he said. It wasn’t his first wreck and it forced a lengthy recovery and an opportunity for personal reflection. During that time, he did something he had never done before. He started reading the Bible.
“Things happen that we can’t explain,” Tony said. “I could never explain how a person like me at the time, would ever open the Bible much less study it and much less teach it. How do you explain something like that? It’s only God’s providence.” Tony believed his addiction is what it took for him to be down enough and powerless to reach out to anyone but God.
The crash that nearly claimed Tony’s life became a wellspring that redirected his days. He also believed it set him on a path of God-given purpose. For him, that moment of revelation did more than change his habits; it reshaped the course of their family’s life and transformed their future.
Within a few years, the Tharps left California to study at a Bible institute in Texas. That was followed by more than two decades in ministry in the United States, Russia and Latin America. His heart held a special place for people seeking addiction recovery through 12-step programs and a relationship with Jesus Christ.
Focused on purpose
In 2003, when the Tharps left full-time ministry and moved to San Angelo, Tony and his youngest son, Steve, started a successful construction business. Creating the business didn’t alter Tony’s life purpose.
Most nights of the week he led support group meetings and Bible studies. Then there were weekend classic-car shows, where chats about his cherry-red Shelby Mustang often led to exchanges about how lives sometimes needed a tuneup.
He always looked for opportunity to share God’s word of healing. They opened a local nonprofit sober-living house for men to provide structure for life beyond sobriety. The Tharps have dedicated 50 years to helping people with addictions who want help.
The decision
In 2025, the Tharps made a permanent decision, making Baptist Retirement Community their forever home. After only two weeks in the senior living community, the kinship and freedom washed over them.
From their high-rise apartment, Tony and Patricia can even see their former house. Their son purchased it and Tony still keeps his classic cars in the garage.
Tony is grateful to God for helping him rebuild what once seemed like an irreparable life and a damaged home. He believes the move to Baptist Retirement Community was part of God’s larger plan, giving them more purpose-filled days.
“I’m hoping that God will use me to help older folks, or others here, who have known life with addictions,” he said. “People will quit drinking or driving for health reasons sometimes, but they still carry the negative feelings they were washing down with alcohol: resentments, anger, fear, guilt or shame.”
Looking ahead, the Tharps don’t focus on whether they will require greater levels of care as they age, but they know it’s there for them when they need it. For now, they’re in a safe, welcoming place with a faith-based mission, where they are inspired to continue serving others. The Tharps said they want to “go to heaven from here, if that’s God’s will.”
